Steven Universe: The Bedrock Society
by SolomonXShadow
Summary: During a trip to Jersey city, Steven encounters a low life street tough, Nate, and discovers that he is a gem hybrid like himself. He is then introduced to the rest of Nate's friends, Sandra, Lydia, and arno, who are also hybrids, and form a punk outcast club, The Bedrock Society. Can Steven step up and lead these renegades down the right path?
1. After Taste (Revised)

**Steven Universe:**

 **The Bedrock Society**

 _Episode 1: After Taste_

The temple house was pretty quiet. I was just sitting in my room, eating chips and playing lonely blade. I just spent most of the day training with Pearl and earning another cool prize from her pouch. Some kind of plastic cube with a bunch of buttons that don't do anything? I don't know. Looks neat though. Figured I earned some time to relax. Things have gotten pretty crazy lately with homeworld, the diamonds and Jasper…...and my mom…..

And……

NO! nono. I shouldn't worry about that right now. The gems will handle it when the time comes. I just need to relax. I just have to focus on this really hard boss that I haven't beaten without cheat codes yet.

( _BEEP BEEP bububoop_ )

( _BEEP BEEP bububoop_ )

My phone was ringing.

I'm dead.

I grabbed my phone off my bed to see who would dare interrupt my kung fu. Oh. it's Sour Cream. I answered.

"Hello?" I said.

"Sup Steven."

"Hi Sour Cream! How's it going'?"

"Great. You'll never guess what I just did….." There was a suspensefully long pause there.

"what?" I finally said.

"I just booked a legitimate rave gig!"

"What? No kidding!?"

"HAHA nope."

"So does that mean you'll be DJ-Ing for a huge party, making a lot of money, breaking a lot of rules, and blowing the roof off the place in an epic fiery blaze?"

…"uhh yeah. Something like that. Who's the man?"

"haha. You are. That's great for you. You're such a great DJ. I can only imagine how fun it's gonna be."

"Oh yeah? Well imagining is tough. It'd be a lot easier to just ...experience it in person."

"WOAH! you mean you want ME to come watch your first big Rave?"

"Totally. My connection hooked me up with some free V.I.P passes. Which means entry into the club, AND all the food drinks are on the house. Not that their food is very good, anyway. So how 'bout you and your dad come along to Jersey and see the show? I could use some moral support. And you got that good energy flow, bro."

I paused for a second to process that right. "Did You say 'Jersey'?"

"Yeah. The club I'm playing at is in Jersey."

I was bummed that I heard that right.

The one place in the world I didn't really enjoy looking at, let alone being in. It's not that I hate the town or the people in it, it just always made me and Dad feel uncomfortable. And I've only seen it at a distance. "Oh ok. But what about your friends? They aren't going to support you?" I tried to say it politely.

"Nah. Jenny said she had to cover a shift on the day, and buck...well I got no clue what he's doing, but he's out."

"Well...what about Lars? Or Sadie?"

"we don't hang out that much. Lars is kinda awkward at stuff like this. Besides, by the time they get off work, they'd never make it up there to catch it."

"Oh."

"Look if you don't want to come that's cool, man."

"NO. It... it's my dad. He doesn't really like the town, and I've never even been up there. He says it's dangerous."

"Don't worry, dude. You'll only be in town a day. And with me and Mr Universe looking out for ya, you got nothing to worry about. Come on. You've been my roady for a lot of my local shows, you deserve to be a viewer to my first real one."

He does make a good point. Plus, I can hear a bit of anxiousness in his voice.

"Well, I guess. WAIT! Why wasn't I your roady for this one?" I asked, shrewdly.

"Hehe. This was ...a pretty big thing. I didn't think you could handle it. Plus, they'd give me all the big stuff. I only really needed to take a few things."

"Hmph!"

"look, I promise I'll let you help next time, ok?"

"Well…. Ok, I'll come."

"Sweet!"

( _Whispering_ ) "Yaaaay!"

"Alright. Thank you Steven. Now listen; my show starts at six. you're gonna need to meet me in front of the club two hours before so I could give you two the passes. Bouncer won't let you through without it."

"Right."

"The club's name is _'After Taste'_ ".

I could not hold my laughter at that.

"What's funny?"

"oh my gosh! That can not be the club's real name."

"haha Hey, It could be worse."

"But what would that even mean?"

"beats me. I guess it...like, you would ...leave the place feeling differently than when you went in?"

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense. But is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"Depends on your experience I guess."

"Haha. Ok so I got it; 4 O'clock, front of tasty club, get passes. 6 O' clock, enter tasty club, have a party. Right?"

"That's it. And it's the day after tomorrow."

"Ok. I'll see you then."

"Yup. Peace."

"Oh and Sour Cream?"

"Huh?"

"Don't be nervous, ok? You're gonna do great, and they're gonna love you."

"Heh. Thanks, Steven. I know. I'll see you later."

"Yup."

We hang up.

Before I called Dad to tell him everything, I sat around thinking about all this. What sour cream said. _"I didn't think you could handle it."_ he doesn't believe I'm good enough to handle a big rave. In a big city. Maybe I shouldn't have said I was worried about the city. If he senses my fear, he'll never let me be a roadie again. I'm just glad he needs me to support him, but what if this is a one time thing? Once he blows the roof off that place, he'll feel so cool, the closest he'll do to talking to me again is when he stamps his autograph on my forehead. But not on my watch. I am a crystal gem! And a Roadie! I'll show him. I'll own Jersey City, I'll kill it at that rave, and I'll show Sour Cream how reliable I can be, like a grown man!

and then he'll finally accept me… ( _Pops shades on_ ) As an honorary cool kid… Man… thingy. A cool kid-man thingy.

 **~BR~**

Hey shtewball, wake up."

I woke up in the shotgun seat of the van. adjusting my eyes to see where I was. it felt like I was out for a couple hours. And the van's seat isn't that comfortable to sleep in. that's why we put sleeping bag in the back. With my eyelids still trying to wake up, I looked to dad.

"We're entering the city, bud."

I looked around to see where we were. I noticed the sky, for some reason, was greyer here than it was earlier. Everything around the van got larger, but tighter at the same time. Huge brick building covered the area from all sides, cars whizzed by in perfect sync, and black smoke rose from the factories in the distance.

We were definitely in Jersey City.

We came up on this huge, racetrack-like highway, and I got a better view of the city. It was mostly the same as what I saw when me and lapis flew over here before. Scattered big buildings, construction sites, a river in the distance, etc. Below most people on the ground were walking rather than driving. So I guess like Beach City, they're close enough to where they need to go to walk it. Better keep that in mind. Suddenly a bad smell started leaking into the van.

"Pee-yoo! What is that smell?"

"Holy cow. Can't tell if it's new fish or old fish." Dad said, covering his nose.

"Or red fish, or blue fish."

We both started laughing.

After a few more minutes of driving, we eventually got to the motel that dad said was close to the club. It wasn't like the hotel in Empire City, but as dad says,

 _"If every pork chop was perfect, we wouldn't have hotdogs."_

We brought in our suitcases, and I started testing the bed by jumping on it.

"Y'know I'm really proud of sour cream. I never would've thought he'd get this far so soon."

"I. knew. it. would happen. sooner. or. later. He. Is. The best. DJ."

"yeah, man. All those local shows must've finally caught someone's attention. That, plus Yellowtail has been way more supportive than ever. He's going places fast. Maybe someday he'll be like me, and get a million dollars by accident. Haha"

"Hey. Dad." I stopped jumping. "Do you ever wonder what you'd be like if you made it big?"

"Uhh no, not really. Probably wouldn't have met mom but, I seriously can't think of my life without meeting her."

"Oh. Ok."

"Why'd ya ask?"

"No reason."

"Come on, man." He came over to sit next to me. "You worried about Sour Cream or something?"

"No. Kinda, I mean… I was just thinking. What if he makes the wrong choice? With DJ-ing I mean."

"That's really up to him to decide, isn't it? There isn't really a wrong choice. Just whatever's best for you."

"I know. It's just that he's been told a lot about responsibility and stuff, what he should or shouldn't do, by grown ups, and-"

"And nobody can tell you that, okay Steven? Sour Cream will figure it out. He's growing into a sharp young man. So just enjoy his party and don't worry about it alright?"

( _Inhale_ ) "Yeah, Ok. You're right. This is his big night, and that's what's important. Let's make this great!"

"That's the spirit. Now come on. It's 3:15. Let's get the room ready then head out to see Sour Cream about those passes."

That's when I get an idea. I did a pretty sick flip off the bed. "Actually, dad. Why don't you finish unpacking, and I'll go meet Sour Cream?"

"By yourself?"

"Yeah. Why not? I go out by myself all the time."

"Yeah, Steven, but that's at home. I don't know if I like you being alone out here."

"Aww come on dad. I'm a crystal gem. I can handle myself. And I'll just be there and back. Please?"

"well…..I guess so."

Yes.

"You know where it is, don't you?"

"Yeah. You said it's not far."

"Yes. It's up on eleventh street. And text me on your way back."

"Ok. See ya later."

"Love you Steven."

"Love you too Dad."

And with that, I was off. This is it. My first step to becoming a man. Walking head on into uncharted territory by myself. Sour cream's gonna think I'm so cool for this. And when he sees how well I handle this city, and how supportive I am of his show, he'll know how reliable I am. Then he'll always call me first to be his roady. All I need to do is meet him at this club with the silly name. This will be easy as pie.

 **~BR~**

It feels like I have been walking for over 20 minutes. I guess "not far" doesn't exactly mean "walk a bit then you'll see it". This place is way bigger and more confusing than I thought. Walking straight up the same street didn't really get me anywhere, so I took a left down a different street, but that didn't change much. Then I tried going down that street in the opposite direction, but still couldn't find the club or Sour Cream.

I'm starting to get pretty nervous. The buildings are so big, but walking between them feels so tight. Like a really tall, narrow hallway. It's dizzying to try to look at the tops of the buildings. I keep bumping into people, and every other person gets mad. I keep passing the same things; homeless people in the alleys, mustached guys at hot dog (or some other product) stands, brick buildings or gross dumpsters with unreadable graffiti on it. I can't tell if it's actually the same stuff, or that's just what the whole place looks like. Wow that's horrible to say. I just need to stay calm, and think. What did dad say? The eleventh street? Seems simple. I just need to find that street, and stay on it. First, which street am I on? I go to the sign on the corner up ahead. Hopefully it would give me some idea of where I need to go. Steven the problem solver.

Ok ok. It says... 14th? FOURTEENTH! That's not that many more than eleven! I am on the right track! Alright. So if I'm moving forward, I just need to go a few streets backwards until I find it.

( _Few streets backwards later_ )

What? What street is that? "Mclovin"? What happened to the numbers? Forget it. Ok then I'll go back up from 14th…

( _up from there_ )

You're kidding me, "elwhino"? "Blackenjecker"? "needermyer"?! Who names these streets?!

Ok. It's ok. I'm just gonna have to walk around until I find another number.

( _Some more walking around later_ )

I give up. I finally found another number; 22nd. And there is no other number around it. There's just a bunch of other weird named streets, and on the way up I went through like three different "Martin Luther King jr's". I wish I knew who that was. He's probably good with directions. I have no choice. I have to do the one thing my dad is afraid of in all cities; ask for directions.

First person I ask was this tan man with funny, tall greasy hair.

He tells me,

"aww YEAAAAAAH buddy! I luh' dat club, bro. I be up in there ALL DAY! Me and mi famillia with that F.P.C. Fist-pump, pushup, CHAPSTICK!"

…"i'm sorry, but what are you talking about?"

"You know, that hizz is fly bro. I be mapin that rout, tearing it up with my whip, be there quick as a bird, baby. Then got all night to get grindin, be ballin, knockin em back, then be home lickety split. Bird game. Fly off. Trrrut trrrut. Just need ma designated homie. Knaw I'm sayin?"

I think he's saying he knows the way, but I'm just not sure if we're talking about the same place. "Uhh thank you, sir. You're very helpful. I think I can handle it from here."

"A'ight bro. Stay fresh, lil man."

Ok I can definitely do that.

I figured the next person I ask could speak in words I know, but this elder at a food stand I went to next spoke only Italian. And kept trying to sell me a bagel/calzone thing. Smelt good though. Didn't have enough money.

After that there was just so many people on the street to ask. Most didn't even notice me, or tried not to, others didn't know where it was, and a few asked for money in exchange.

Everyone is moving so fast in the same direction, and I am getting squished trying to get through. It's like I'm not even here.

I got so nervous and sweaty and overwhelmed and I had to get off that street. Finally I noticed this mostly empty convenience store near where I was walking. Perfect. I can do convenience stores. Can probably get some snacks too. I got inside and took some long deep breaths. I have to calm down. Have to stay focused on my task. I calmly browsed the store for some snacks that I can afford with what's in my pocket. Then I figured I could see if the clerk knows where to go.

As I was walking around I caught a glimpse of the only other person in the store. This lanky teenager in a black hoodie with his hood up. As I'm comparing the price tags with my money I can't help but keep looking in that guy's direction. He looked pretty strange. Like he was standing around pretending to do something, but wasn't really doing anything. He just kept turning the glasses rack while occasionally glancing in the direction of the register. He also looked pretty tired. His eyes were shadowy and his skin was pale. I've seen Pearl and Sour Cream tired, so I know the difference between ok pale and tired pale. He must be pretty tired, for having not changed his clothes in a while. His sneakers were worn out, his grey jeans had a hole in one knee, and his sweater was pretty beat up. The least tattered thing he had on were his fingerless biker gloves. Well actually more like "glove". He only wore one glove on his right hand. hehe.

 _"THE LONELY GLOVE! his legendary one gloved punch_ _could vanquish even the mightiest of enemies!"_

I started to worry. Maybe he wants to buy something but doesn't have the money to. Maybe I should help.

Just then I heard the ring of the store's entrance, and I looked to see that a police officer had just walked in... A POLICE OFFICER! What luck. He's gotta know where to go in this city.

I quickly glanced back to where I was looking. Then I realized the hoodie guy that was just standing there was ...gone. I didn't see him anywhere. Oh well.

I finally settled on two bags of off brand candy and a small juice then made my way to the register.

The cop was there. He was having a conversation with the clerk, so I waited for him to finish. Out of the corner of my eye I could swear I saw the hooded guy near the counter. But I looked again and there was nothing. This is so weird. The cop swiped his card and moved away from the counter. I tried to get his attention, but the clerk spoke first. In a funny accent.

"Hello child. Are you having a pleasant evening?"

I moved closer and put my things on the counter.

"Oh. Um actually it could be better."

"Ohh. Such a shame." ( _Scan, scan_ ) "I myself have had a slow business day. Nobody comes around on Tuesdays."

"Haha. I know what that's like. My friends work at a store like this. Only they have more of a Thursday problem."

"Haha. Might as well have a day off on those days, right?" ( _Ding, open_ ) "That would be 4.50, buddy."

Perfect. "Thank you. By the way, you don't know where to find a club called 'sour taste', do you?" that was the name right?

"Oh sorry. I have no clue."

Figures. "Well thank you sir."

"Wish I could help. Good luc-did it just get warmer? Eh. Have a good day."

After I got my snacks, I looked around and saw the cop didn't actually leave yet. I hurried to the front door to stop him before he left.

"Wait! Excuse me, sir!"

He stopped and turned around. "Huh? Oh. Hey there son. Is there something ya need?"

"yeah. I need your help real quick. I just need to find a place."

"Ah. I thought you weren't from around here. HAHA. Well I can help with that."

"Great! Well you see, I have this friend named sour cream he's a really talented DJ but his parents don't approve well actually just his stepdad sometimes he has me be his roady to set up his equipment and stuff but two days….."

as I kept going, I noticed he got distracted by the clerk, groaning something about missing bills.

"So I thought it would be really cool if I went to the club by myself but it's like super hard to find anything here I know it's on 11th Street but the streets here are named funny and the order doesn't make much sense I feel like I've been going in circles so-"

"I-I'm sorry kid. Could you hold that thought?"

He walked off and I watch where he was going. I caught a glance of the hooded guy exiting the building before disappearing from sight. The officer got to the door yelling, "hey! Young man, wait!"

Before reopening the door again, leaving, and also disappearing. I started getting frustrated. Even the cop wasn't listening to me. I stood there for exactly 30 seconds before the cop walked back in looking a bit confused.

"Sorry about that kid. There was a chance he was this store robber that's been running around taking from registers, but I was probably wrong. So what were you saying? But this time please cut to the chase."

( _Sigh_ ) "do you know where I can find club bitter taste?"

"Huh?"

"Wait. No it's umm…...AFTER! where is club AFTER taste?"

"Oh ...yeah, I know where that is. But, I'm not sure if you wanna-"

"So you know the way! Can you please take me there?"

"Yes. I could, but I don't know if I should. It's not really a place for kids your age."

"What? You're saying I can't HANDLE IT?!" I immediately regretted that.

"Don't get snippy with me, young man. It's my job to make sure you're safe."

"Yeah. I'm so sorry."

"It's alright. Now stay calm. I can drive you down there, but I need to know if you're gonna meet any adult supervision out front of the place. Parent? Legal guardian? Anything. You should probably ca-"

I lost focus as I stared at something on a wall across the street. A paper with the words "AFTER TASTE" in big bold letters. My jaw dropped. That has to be an advertisement for the show tonight. There has got to be an exact address or map on it. This is perfect! I didn't need the cop. He'd probably cost me cool points, anyway. He means well, but I need to do this right."

"Hey. You still there? What's your name?"

I snapped back, and after some hesitation, I dipped for the door. "Uhh thank you. You're very helpful but I got it now BYE!"

"Wait a minute, kid. Didn't you hear what- hey WAIT NO WAI….!"

I couldn't hear him anymore. I darted across the street. My eyes fixed only on that poster. But my gaze was cut off by a car WHIZZING from the left right in front of my face! Quickly I jumped backwards. Several other cars followed suit. Before I could catch my breath, a bright light ate the side of my face. I turned right and my eyes were pierced by two bright lights. A car was coming right at me. And coming fast. Too fast. I don't know what to do. I braced trying to get my bubble out, but it's too late. I'm gonna DIE! I MESSED UP AND I'M ABOUT TO DIE FOR IT!

Suddenly something wraps around me and my feet leave the ground. I open my eyes, and I see cars rush right by the place I think I was just standing. And ...run right over my snacks. My feet find the floor on the sidewalk and I'm let go. My gem stops vibrating and glowing. I'd be confused by all of this, but I am way too relieved that I'm not dead right now.

"HEY GENIUS!"

I was snapped out of my state and I looked to that grating noise. And I'm looking right into the big, shadowy, angry eyes of the pale hooded guy from the store. Except his hood was off.

"Why don't you watch where you're going, you idiot? You almost died!"

No duh. And now I'm scared again.

"Don't you know you're not supposed to run head on into friggin traffic? You're lucky I was there otherwise you'd have been street pizza. I had half a mind to let your stupid self get hit. What are you a tourist? Huh, SANDALS?"

I was not prepared for this anger. Is this how everyone here acts towards someone they've recently pulled away from certain death? "I-I'm sorry. I-"

"And what Mook just lets their kid run around town alone? Where are your parents? Your dad? Mom?"

"Sh-she's here." I don't know why I just said that.

"Well, 'here' in the city is not the same as right HERE. Right with you. WHERE ARE THEY?! what are you lost?"

"Yes. No. I mean...listen-"

"No no. You listen. Here's some advice. Go to your parents, tell them how stupid and sorry you both CLEARLY are, go home, and stay on the sidewalks while you're at it. You see that Blinky thing? That's called a crosswalk! And not everyone in this city is gonna jump-"

"HEY! YOU!"

Thank goodness for that voice that barked from across the street. The cop from earlier was yelling at us from that direction. Also in that direction, there was a bunch of dollar bills separating from a couple of bundles and fluttering in the breeze. Making a trail right to us. Hoodie had a dumbfounded look on his face, checked his sweater pockets, and looked back over there. Suddenly I started to connect the dots. Didn't the cop say something about a… robber?

"Stop right there! HALT!"The cop ran after us. Blowing a whistle and waving for traffic to stop.

"Aww crap!" He said with a groan. He quickly grabbed what was on the floor closest to him, and bolted down the sidewalk.

He was cut off by another cop, and he turned and ran back toward me and continued in that direction. The first cop finally crossed and almost had him. They all Kept running down the sidewalk.

And I was just left to stand there and try to process what had just happened. What was I even doing here?

So…

•I was grabbing food

•I was asking for directions

•someone robbed the same store

•I was trying to...OH RIGHT! I was trying to read a poster! Next thing I know…

•I almost died

•robber saves my life

•robber is mean to me

•cop sees robber

•cops chase robber

So basically while I was scavenger hunting, I got caught in the middle of a game of cops and robbers. This is such a bizarre, exhausting, frustrating day. I still have no clue where I am. I may have avoided this if I had just listened to that cop. Or if he listened to me. I dunno. Figured I may as well just check that poster. For...what could I even find on that poster? It's not like they just put maps on these. I think I might actually be stupid.

What am I saying? That's just that rude hoodie guy talking. On the bright side, at least I accidentally helped in the capture of a known felon.

But, if he was a bad guy, why did he save me? The only ones who have ever saved my life were the crystal gems. Does that mean he ...cared about me? A stranger? He did go out of his way to save me. But he also said he would have just as soon left me alone. If anything I was more of an….. inconvenience to him. And now because of me he's being chased by the cops. But why should I care, right? He brought it on himself. Even though he... probably needs that money. But that doesn't mean he can just steal it. He did a bad thing. Even though he's ...probably a good person. I just don't know. All that matters is he saved my life. And I feel like at least, I owe him for that.

Geeze. Why me? What am I doing?

I took a big step back, looked up, and jumped as high as I possibly can. I had to see over the buildings. I stalled in mid air. Slowly falling as I looked around. Trying to find the people running around. And there they are! They are still running. Just one street over from where I was. quickly I threw myself into a nearby rooftop. I ran along the roofs to try and intercept them. I feel so cool. I've only seen this done in movies.

I caught up and started running alongside them from the roofs. It's hard keeping track of them while I'm jumping over gaps between buildings. I noticed a third cop was about to run into him from ahead. Suddenly hoodie stopped and switched directions. What he does next is almost too amazing to describe. He jumps, runs up, then spins off the wall near him to avoid the first cop, then without losing momentum, he slides along the concrete floor, between the second cop's legs, and takes him off his feet. At the same time, the first cop almost falls trying to turn around fast enough, while the third cop cannot stop himself and finishes the job. Taking them both to the ground. Then the hoodie belines down a nearby alleyway.

My feelings are so conflicted right now. That was so awesome, I'm actually starting to root for the thief. But I also feel bad for the cops. He barely touched them, but that still must've hurt. They got up as fast as they could, then hurried to the alley. I ran back to the edge of my building to see where in the alley hoodie was.

And….I couldn't see him. There wasn't anywhere he could've gone. There was a wall at the end of the alley, nothing there but a few trash cans, a dumpster, doors leading into the building, and a manhole cover.

He may have been in one of those.

The cops entered the alley. With their guns drawn.

They carefully looked around for him. I couldn't see him, but It wouldn't be long before they found him in one of those places.

I have to think fast. Something to get them away from here. Then I looked at the trash cans at the corner of the alley. I have an idea. I just hope it works. And that he isn't in there.

I equipped my shield, and raised it above my head. I lined up the shot. Just as pearl showed me. And all the cops looked away.

NOW!

I threw my shield down to the garbage cans and with a crash they all fell down. The shield immediately bounced away, and I made it disappear before it flew anywhere I didn't want it to. The cops immediately reacted.

"HE'S GETTING AWAY! COME ON!"

And they all ran out of the alley, and back in the direction they just came from. I can't believe that actually worked. I hopped down from the building and watched to make sure they left. When they were out of sight, I started to think about my decision. I just helped a criminal get away. Dad and the Gems would kill me if they ever knew about this.

"( _Sigh_ )" I looked down the alley for the hoodie. "Hey." I whispered. "Hey hoodie guy. Are you here? They're gone. You're safe." I felt a little weird looking in the dumpster.

Without warning I felt a thumping on the back of my head.

I turned, startled. It was him. Seemingly out of nowhere.

"Don't know what you just did, but it sure was handy."

Whew. Glad he didn't see that.

"Maybe it wasn't a mistake saving you from that street."

He walked off. That's not exactly what I was expecting to hear.

"Um, YOU'RE WELCOME."

"goodbye."

That's all I get? Ok. That's it. I have been losing my mind in this stupid city all day, putting up with all these jerks. but I'm done. He needs to show some sort of gratitude for what I just did. "Hey! Stop right there!"

"Oh what do you want from me, Sandals? A cookie?"

"A simple thank you would be nice."

"Oh, a thank you. YOU want a thank you. That's great. Welp, here's a hot tip for ya squirt; not everyone gets what they want! If it wasn't for you, I would have walked away Scott free, and I wouldn't be a couple hundred short."

"Well it's not like you deserved to get saved anyway. You're a criminal. A thief. Those stores need that money just as much as you do."

"Really? I'm getting a lecture from some twerp who doesn't know any better? You don't know anything that I've been through. So just leave me alone."

He started walking away again.

"I've known people that have been hurt before. It's awful. But there's no excuse for taking it out on others."

"Well technically I'm not hurting anyone. I'm just stealing from them. I take what I need, and nothing more."

"You really don't care about the people you take from, do you?"

"Nope. And there's nothing anyone can do about it."

"Well fine then. Don't thank me. Keep stealing and fighting. But just remember; if it _'weren't for me'_ , you would have been caught. And no matter how good you are, you'll get caught eventually."

"Please. I could have gotten away on my own. I know this city like the palm of my hand. And I got a few tricks-"

"BACK of your hand."

"What?"

"I-i think I heard my dad say something like that, but he said ' _the back of my hand'_ , not palm."

He looked confused as he took a moment to examine both sides of his hand.

"It doesn't matter. The point is I always get away, and I don't need some bratty kid's help. Now if you excuse me, I've got better things I need to take care of."

"What? More robberies?"

"Watch it Sandals. Go home, and stay out of trouble."

Grrrr. Go home. I can't go home, I need to…

Oh my gosh! I still don't know where that club is! I checked my watch. IT'S 5:10!? the show will start in under an hour. How am I ever going to find it in…

Then it hit me. "Wait! Hoodie!"

"Oh my God. What?"

"You said you know this city very well right?"

"Yeah. Like the… PALM! of my hand. Been here most of my life."

"Well do you know where a place called 'great taste' is?"

"...What?"

"You know. A club? Named ...something about tastes?"

"You mean 'After Taste'?"

"Yes! That's it."

"Of course I know it. Sandra goes there all the time."

"Great! Because my friend Sour Cream wanted me to watch him DJ there tonight, and-"

"Wait wait wait. ( _Chuckling_ ) Stop right there. What was that friend's name again?"

"Um, Sour Cream?"

"PPPFFFHHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA"

This guy is really irritating. "What's so funny about that name?"

"Hahahahahaha... Ju ( _breathe_ ) jus ( _breathe_ ) jus ( _breathe deeply_ ) just that, you know. What kinda name is that?"

"It's a great name, you jerk. It's my friend's name."

"It's a nacho topping. Jesus. His parents must be as stupid as yours, kid."

I cannot believe how judgemental he is. I wanted to yell. I wanted to punch. But he is my only chance to make it to the show in time, so I needed to put up with him for a bit. "( _Sigh_ ) Look. He is DJing a rave at After Taste tonight. My dad and I were supposed to meet him in front of the club at four to get some kind of free pass to get in. But I went alone and got lost, and his show starts at six. So I just need you to show me the fastest way to get there from here."

"Hmmmmmm… no."

"What!? What do you mean no?"

"I mean I won't help you. You got me in enough trouble tonight, and I certainly don't have time to babysit you."

"Well, I don't need anyone to babysit me. I just need some direction. That's not too hard for you is it?"

"I can't just give you directions. It's an adults club. You need to be 18 years old or older to get in there, and to take a minor with you. Why'd you think you needed to see your friend before the show? Probably a mistake for your dad to let you go off alone. He's having a party without you. So if you want in, and since I'm 18 or older, I'd have to take you all the way into the building myself. And probably pay too."

Huh. Why didn't sour cream tell me that? If I had known, I would have definitely brought my dad. I wouldn't have a choice. But I can't let this stop me. I guess I'll need him for a bit longer.

"Well then I'll need you to do that. Come on. It's not like you had anything better to do."

"Um, did you not hear me when I mentioned I did? I have to do grocery shopping. With whatever money I didn't drop."

Oh right. He did say that. But what's the point? He's still a thief. He could have just stolen… the… food?

Hmm. Steven the problem solver has yet another idea.

"Well. There's probably some stores on the way there, right?"

"No. Not in the direction you

want."

"I dunno. There's bound to be something with food in it. It's a big city. So big, you probably don't know EVERYTHING about it."

"I do know everything, kid. I know that on the way to After Taste from here, all the places that sell a lot of food suck. There's some fast food joints, like Pepe's burgers or McCramble's place, and some convenience stores like an AM/FM or a 7 Ain't 9 o'clock. The kinda shopping I need to do needs to be done at a larger variety store with low prices, which leaves my options limited to the Khal-mart 20 blocks from here. You understand?"

I was just mesmerized by all the names this town can come up with.

"So with that said, no. I can't help you and I can't babysit you. So just cut your losses and go home. Catch it on youtube or

something."

He started walking away again, but I doubt he was gonna stop again. Fortunately, I had enough information to put my plan into action. I pulled my phone out and held it behind my back.

"You can always put your shopping on hold. You still owe me."

"No I don't! I saved your life, you saved mine. we're even!" He turned out of the alley.

"I don't mean for saving you, I mean for not telling the cops where you're shopping!"

There was a moment when I thought he didn't hear me. Then, over all the other people walking around, I could hear his feet stomping back in this direction with purpose.

He turned back down the alley, his arms stiff and his fists clenched at his hips, stomped quickly right up to me and stopped in front of me with a screech.

"You. Are going. to have to. Repeat that. Boy."

"Oh I was just thinking. If that's the best store in town, I'm sure a lot of people shop there. Especially police officers. And I think they would feel pretty upset if they knew a well known thief was there, stealing their favorite boxes of breakfast cereal. Don't you think?"

He is starting to breathe really heavy right now. His eye twitch is funny.

"But I bet they'd really appreciate someone giving them a heads up on where the bad man is going. ( _Holds phone in front, Black Screen facing Steven_ ) or where he might go on other days. Anonymously."

His teeth are gritting so tightly I thought they'd break in his mouth. "You wouldn't."

"Wanna bet? It only takes three( _tap_ ) little ( _tap_ ) numbers…"

"STOP! don't. Don't do that."

"I keep my promises, hoodie. If you help me keep it, then I won't turn you in."

He leaned really close. An intense stare down ensued. I kept my arms folded. Trying my hardest not to shiver.

"( _Grunt_ ) FINE! I'll take you!"

"YESSS! I mean ( _clears throat_ ) that's very kind of you sir. Thank you."

"Don't push it. Let's go. We need to hurry if you wanna make it."

"Right."

I'm trying hard to contain my joy. This started out bad, but I managed to turn this around. I can never tell my dad or the gems, but Sour Cream is going to love this. Although the part about pretending may not sound as cool as--

My thought was interrupted when I saw the thief step out of the alley, yank a biker off of his bicycle and throw him to the floor hard. He laid there in pain while the thief went to pick up the bike.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

"What's it look like? We're gonna need wheels."

"How could you do that? You can't just take whatever you want like that!"

"Look, do you wanna see your stupid rave or not? You're already holding my leash. Don't be picky now."

"Well ...at least tell him you'll give it back."

"C'mon. What's the point in-"

"TELL HIM! now!"

He hesitated. He got that angry look on his face again.

"( _Groan_ ) You stubborn little brat."

He walked over to the biker who had just gotten back up.

"Hey what's the big Idea ya jerk? If I had two cents right now, I'd-"

Hoodie then grabbed the man tightly by his shoulders, picked him up off the floor, and planted him on a nearby bench.

"you can pick up your bike at club After Taste in two hours! You know where that is?"

The man nodded.

"Good."

He walked back over, picked up the bike and sat on the seat. "Happy?"

 _The Lonely Crab Claw. His crabby attitude can vanquish even the mightiest of good moods._

I grabbed onto his sweater and sat on this support thing above the back wheel. It's not the most comfortable thing, but we shouldn't be riding for long.

"I'm sorry." I said, Waving to the biker as we rode off.

 **~BR~**

It's 5:45. We have been riding for a long time. I stopped trying to get comfortable a while ago. I'm beginning to doubt that we'll make it to the show on time, but I don't see a point in putting more pressure on my driver. Still, I need to do something to get my mind off my worries and my butt.

"Hey. By the way, I never got your name."

"I never gave it. There's no point."

"I just think it'd be nice to call each other something besides Hoodie and Sandals."

"You gonna call the cops if I don't?"

That caught me a little off guard, but I wasn't totally surprised.

"( _Sigh_ ) I'm sorry ok? I was desperate. We don't like each other, but we don't need to hate each other while we're here, either."

There was a bit of a pause there. He looked like he was thinking.

"It's Nathan."

Oh. Well that's a start. "Nathan what?"

"Just Nathan. Call me Nate." He reached his gloved hand around to me.

"I'm Steven." I said, shaking his hand. "Steven universe."

"Well pleased to make your aq- wait. What was that again? Steven what?"

Oh great. I think I know what's coming. "Universe."

"Oh my God. Are you kidding? That's your government name?"

"It's the name I was born with, yes."

"Wow. You're unreal. I mean, Sour Cream can be blamed on just one, maybe two parents, but what has to happen in your entire family's bloodline for them to land a name like 'Universe'?"

"It's not my whole family. My dad just changed his last name."

"Doesn't anyone in umm where are you from?"

"Beach City."

"Does anyone in Beach City have a normal name?"

"I don't know. Does any place in Jersey have a ...not funny name?"

"No. they're all pretty ridiculous. But that's no excuse for a person to have names like that."

"Well, Nathan, what do you consider to be a _'normal'_ name?"

"I don't know. Like ...something that… you know sounds like a name. Like, what was your dad's name before he changed it?"

"His cousin's name is Demayo."

"See that sounds right. Still funny though. Sounds like an Italian man asking for mayonnaise. It's like, 'EY! Cup a de mayo ova 'ere! Hehe."

He thinks he's so funny, doesn't he? "So what if my dad chose a name that doesn't sound like a _'real'_ name, anyway? It means something to him. And it means a lot to me too. That's all that matters."

"Oh yeah. And you've shown what kind of stand up parents you have. He Ditches his family name and takes something completely ludicrous for whatever dumb, conceited reason, then he and your mom ditch YOU in some strange city and let you watch a bunch of grown ups get dizzy and throw up on each other. Wonder what they're up to right now. Losing their minds at the party having a good ol' time, probably cheating on each other with with more attractive individ-"

"SHUT UP!"

"Woah."

"First of all, I left on my own because I thought it would look mature! My father is great! And second, I never even knew my mom, so don't ever talk bad about her! you don't even know what you're talking about!"

He was silent. Surprised by that outburst. And I hope he is. I hope I can get something to sink into him. I hope he thinks about every word he has said or will say.

"Lost your mom, huh? This like the dead lost, or the ran away kinda lost?"

I… I couldn't tell him what actually happened. Not that it was easy to explain anyway.

"She isn't with us anymore."

"Oh. Tough break, kid. But you know what? At least you have one parent."

I did not expect to hear that. Does he mean… "You don't have any do you?"

"Nope. Couldn't even get adopted."

"Oh. So, Is that why you judge people without even knowing them?"

"I do that, because that's how everyone else treated me. All those schools that pushed me around, those so called 'parents' who claimed they would love me, only to just throw me out like a broken toy. All those Empire City snobs who look down on those less fortunate, and have turned this city into their personal dump. I was never given a single thing in this sick sad world, so I take it all for myself. Screw everyone else! I don't need them!"

That's when it changed. The way I see him. Now a lot was beginning to make sense. It just sucks that now I'm the one who feels bad.

( _Sigh_ ) "But, hey. Look. You seem like a good kid. I guess your pop couldn't be a total loser if he raised you right. I'd be lucky to have half what you got."

Now we're getting somewhere. I just don't know what to say to him anymore. My dad is much better at giving advice than me.

"Well, thank you for saying that. For what it's worth, I wish I could understand your situation better. But, I Don't think you're as alone as you think you are. Who is that Sandra friend you mentioned?"

"She's more than a friend, Steve. That's all you need to know. We're here."

"Wait what?"

I looked up to my left, and saw a big neon sign that said _"After Taste"_. I didn't even notice we stopped.when did we stop? All I really knew was that I could finally get off this bike. I checked my watch again. 5:50. We made it just in time.

"Well, thanks."

"Don't thank me yet."

"Also, it's Steven. I don't like when people say Steve."

"Whatever floats your boat, sandals."

Great. And here I thought we made some progress.

On our way in, we were stopped by, who can only be the club's bouncer.

"gonna need to see some tickets." The large man said.

"We're buying. How much?"

Nathan replied.

"You eighteen?"

"Yeah."

"Gonna need to see some I.D."

"Ain't got no I.D, but I'm 18. Look at me."

"Could. Be 16."

"Really bro? You 'Guesstimating' me? Look just tell me how much the stupid tickets are."

"Can't do it. Need to see some I.D."

"What Are you talking about? Someone just went in. You didn't need to see HIS I.D."

"Didn't have a kid. Looked old enough."

"How exactly does 'old enough' look to you? What do I need a thick mustache?"

"I.D, or leave."

"Look I don't have time for this, a'ight? I shouldn't have to prove my age to some big moron to get into this stupid club!"

"Don't like your attitude." He stopped leaning against the wall and uncrossed his arms.

"Well I don't like big ol Papa bears acting like airport security when OBVIOUS adults are trying to enter some cruddy club!"

Nate is his chest height but looking directly into his eyes. This is getting bad.

"Saying this once. Get back."

"I'M saying this once. Tell me how much your tickets are, or I'll plant another form of I.D ON--"

"PLEASE!" I interrupted. "We're very late. We're watching or friend Sour Cream perform. This is his first big D.J? I'm Steven Universe. This is ...my older brother. Greg Universe. He's 18. Believe me. Sour cream was supposed to give us passes. I know you're following the rules, but you have to make an exception."

He doesn't take his eyes off Nathan for a second as he reaches his clipboard. He then reads it for a bit before putting it down.

"Names check out. But you still gotta pay. Can at least give reduce price. 75 dollars each."

"WHAT?! Yo-"

I stopped Nathan before he made it worse.

"That's doable, right?"

"( _grunt)_ yeah. That's fine. ( _muttering_ ) 'ts over half what I got left, but whatever."

He paid, and the big man gave us the tickets.

"Thank you so much, sir."

"Just be careful in there, little man. And tell your bro to cool it."

"Will do."

They Squinted at each other as we walked in.

At long last. I was finally in the club of many curious tastes. This is it. My proving ground. I will conquer this. And show sour cream I can handle big things.

"See that?" I said to Nathan. Shouting over the blaring music. "Not all problems need to be solved with fighting."

"yeah yeah. But, genius? You said you and your dad were supposed to come together. How did you know that guy didn't already meet him?"

Oh… Huh. I didn't think about that. Why didn't he already meet dad? Is he not here?

"I don't really know. Maybe Sour cream brought him in before that guy got here. Lucky us, right?"

"yeah. I guess. You're still a twerp, though."

"You're still a jerk, though."

We squeezed by the many people dancing to find Sour Cream in the back. It was hard to see over people, and the light was flashing dark colors. The only consistent colours were the glow sticks or glowy paint the people had. They kept bumping into me and some paint splattered onto me. I admit, I don't feel much better in here than I did on the streets. We got out of the crowd and hugged a wall to scan the area.

Nate used his sleeve to wipe the paint off my face. "Lookin kinda nervous there, Beach boy. No shame in backing out."

"Uuh I-I'm fine. This isn't my first rave, you know." First one this big, and wild though. "What about you? Do you like this party?"

"Nah, this scene ain't really my thing."

"Oh. What do you do? You know besides stealing."

"None of your business."

"Oh come on. Wouldn't hurt to tell me what you love to do."

"Look i'm not that interesting, kid. I like low key stuff like local concerts, or tagging overpasses. I'm not too big on big groups of people."

"Oh, That's nice. Actually, I can understand that. But to be honest, you could use some improvements with individual people."

"Nobody asked you."

"STEVEN!"

Over all the noise I heard a deep voice call out to me from my left. It's Sour cream. He's calling me over from behind a door near the stage.

I brought Nate over to meet him.

"Hi Sour Cream."

"Hey, dude. Where have you been? I was worried you wouldn't make it. I'm just glad my part got delayed."

"I'm sorry. I got lost. I thought it'd be easier if I came to get the passes myself."

"I know, man. It's cool. If you called me I could have helped."

"yeah, but I wanted to do it on my own. But where is my dad? The man out front didn't meet him. Did you bring him in?"

"No. I called him to see what was up. He said he'd be on his way as soon as you got back to him. I'll let him know you made it if I get a chance."

"Thanks. Now, why'd your part get delayed?"

"Technical issues. Should be up in like, 20/30 minutes."

"Anything I can help with?"

"No, we got it for now. But I'll let you know. Now who's this guy?"

"OH RIGHT! This is Nathan. He helped me find my way here."

"Well hi. Thanks for your help, bro."

Sour cream offered his hand.

"Don't mention it, Cool Whip." Nathan did not shake his hand.

"Uuuhm, It's Sour cream … Ok well, Here's your passes. Food's on the house. How about you take Greg's until he gets here?

I owe you."

"Thanks. Are you sure you don't need any help here? I can totally handle whatever you need."

"Steven, Wouldn't you rather be out there instead of here? If you're back here, you won't enjoy the show."

"If it's delayed I couldn't enjoy it either. if you have trouble, couldn't more help get it done faster?"

He hesitated before glancing at this red haired guy in the room. The guy made a gesture toward me, as if to say _"that's a good point"_.

Sour Cream sort of chuckled. "Alright bro. Tell you what. You just get something to eat and chill while we figure this stuff out. Then we'll bring you back over here to do some heavy lifting. Ok?"

YES! YES! "Sounds Great! Well I'll see you later."

"You bet. And YOU dude," He said to Nathan. "Stay cool. And stay outta trouble."

"Can't promise nothin."

With the passes, me and Nathan left and went back onto the main floor.

"Why'd you want to help him set up so much? I thought you just came to see the show."

"It's a bit more complicated. I helped him set up small shows before. I'm a roadie."

"More like roadKILL, from what I've seen today."

I wonder if there's a button to turn his sarcasm off. He started walking away.

"Wait. where are you going?"

"I'm leaving. I got you here, didn't I?"

"But I have an extra pass. All the food is free."

"Give it to your dad when he gets here. I got things to do."

"Come on. The groceries aren't going anywhere. Why don't you stay and relax for a little bit? Even criminals deserve a rest."

"I told you. This place ain't my thing. And I've already wasted more time with you than I would've liked. So, peace."

I felt bummed as he walked toward the door. But he was right. I wasn't very thrilled hanging out with him either. I probably shouldn't care so much about what strange criminals do. But about halfway to the door, I saw him stop and tense up. I looked a bit ahead of him, and saw a cop right in the doorway talking to the bouncer out front. It wouldn't take a genius to know why he put his hood up and walked back in my direction. I smiled up at him, smugly.

"Although, I could eat." He said, kind of embarrassed.

"Of course. Food is very important."

"Yes indeed. Plus uuh, it would just be rude to turn down free snacks."

"It's the right thing to do."

"Yeah."

I gave him dad's pass and we separated. I wanted to laugh at his situation, but now I couldn't stop thinking about how hungry I was.

The best thing they had at the snack bar were nachos and cold turkey sandwiches. I ate a couple of sandwiches and drank water as I watch all the people dance. The way that they were dancing, however, made me a little uncomfortable. They were very random, uncoordinated, almost violent to me. It's nothing like the way me and the gems dance. The music was reflecting this, too. Maybe Nathan was right. Maybe I wasn't ready for this and i should have just cut my losses. But I've dealt with scary things before, haven't I? This city, this club, it should be nothing to me. What kind of crystal gem would I be if I couldn't even handle something so human?

Besides. Sour Cream needs my support. How could I support him if I'm afraid myself?

No. I just need to perish all bad thoughts. I need to man up, and own this. And that means showing my stuff on the dance floor.

Sour cream called me back over to the tech area. Now's the Time. I can prove my worth to him.

"Ok Steven, here's what we need.

We've fixed the wiring on these lights, and now we need to put them back in place up there. You're the only one strong enough to do it in no time. Can you handle that?"

"Absolutely!"

"Sweet. Just be careful up there."

"Got it."

With that, he gave me a screwdriver and a flashlight, I grabbed the first light, the ropes tied to the others, and jumped. Not as hard as I did earlier. Moving around the scaffolding was easy enough, but I still had to remind myself not to look down. I draped the ropes over the scaffolding so I could get them later. With my flashlight, I found which cords plugged into this light. It's funny. They use colored tape the same way Sour cream does. So I plugged in the light, screwed it into the proper fixture, pointed it in the right direction, then grabbed a rope to pull up the next one. Rinse and repeat. Before I knew it, I was done with the whole set. It only took about 7 minutes.

"Wow. That was awesome, Steven." Sour cream said. "Anyone else, and that would have taken forever."

"that's what you got me for a roadie for, huh?"

"I'll say. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe you could handle this big stuff."

This is so great. It's going better than I thought.

"So does this mean you'll have me at more of your big raves?"

"Time will tell, man. For now, go and hit that dance floor. I'm about the get started."

"Alright! Break a leg, Sour Cream."

"All day, dude."

Now's the Time for him to blow the roof off the place. They are going to hear something they've never heard before. I Only wish Connie was here. I'm good at dancing, but I feel I'm better at it with her.

I found a spot on the dance floor among the crowd. After a few moments of trying to stay out of people's way, I suddenly heard a body-less voice make an announcement.

"A'IGHT Y'all. We gonna slow things down with one of our hot new DJs straight outta Beach City. They call him Sour Cream."

I made sure to cheer as loud as I could for him.

A few of the people acknowledged him and clapped, but I think they were more interested in dancing to the music than the DJ playing it.

Nevertheless, as soon as he started, the mood in the room completely changed.

Sour Cream's sound is something else. I can't describe it that well, but It's more mellow than a lot of other DJs. Usually he starts off making you feel like you're adrift in deep space or ocean waves(unfortunately I've had more than my share of both in reality). But then he switches the pace to the Sprite energy of a video game. He's able to connect his rhythms so fluidly, with so little breaks, you barely notice it's happening. It's the perfect thing to dance to. At least to me anyway.

As I get into the zone everything else just fades away. For a moment I forget where I am.

It honestly feels nice to lose myself in song and dance for a while. Especially Considering what I've been through over the past few months. It seems like I don't get to have this kind of fun as much as I used to. Like I just keep slowly floating away from earth. But, at least for tonight, this is the sort of break I've been looking for.

Tonight I...

I...

Is……

Is that the Bouncer?

All of a sudden, I think I see the bouncer from the club's entrance sorta drift through the air.

Then I'm snapped out of my daydream as he crashes against a pillar on the other side of the room. The man is knocked unconscious.

The music stops, people stop dancing, start panicking, then all I hear is, "HANDS UP!" "Do not move a muscle!" From behind me.

My first instinct is to check on the man and see if he needs healing, but someone has already gotten to him. So I try to squeeze my way through the crowd who has gathered around the source. When I get a good viewpoint, I see what's causing all this commotion.

It's Nathan.

He's standing, on guard, between two police officers, With one of their nightsticks. One of the cops has a nightsticks drawn, also on guard, the other is clutching his bleeding head and standing at a distance from Nate.

Why now? Why is this happening!? It was supposed to be easy from here. How could it get like this?

"Get BACK!" Nate said. "Leave me alone!"

"Young Man, you are only making this harder on yourself." The cop replied with a growl.

Sour cream used the mic to ask what was going on.

This is so bad. I gotta stop this. I Have no idea if I can but I just HAVE to try and stop this.

"Officer wait!" I screamed as I pushed past the crowd and ran up to the cop.

"Sandals!?"

"Stay back kid. It's dangerous." Said the cop with the stick.

"You can't hurt him! I'm sorry if N-- my brother did something wrong, but please let me talk to him. Get him to calm down."

"You're Steven Universe?"

"HA!"

"Grr. Yes. Yes I am."

"Well you lied. This is not your brother."

"W-what?"

"According to the bouncer, over there, he received a call from a man named Greg universe asking if his son showed up. Strange thing to ask because he had recently sold entry tickets to two BROTHERS named 'Universe'. The older being Greg."

"Uhh. I don't..."

"I was here chatting with my friend when he told me this. Then after he described the brothers, I called that one over there so he could confirm if he was the same robber he said he tried to catch a few hours ago."

The wounded cop. I recognize him now. He was one of the three who tried to catch Nathan earlier. Thankfully, not the one from the store who tried to help me.

"The three of us approached him and tried to ask him to get you and to leave calmly, but he lashed out. But you're here now, and young man, you have got a lot to answer for."

"Uhh ...Uhh…"

"KID!" Nate called out to me. "Stay out of this! You had nothing to do with--"

The wounded seized his opportunity. He grabbed Nate around the arm and the neck and tried to take him down. But Nate broke out and shoved the cop into the dance floor crowd where they wrestled on the floor.

"NATHAN!" I tried to get in there and pull them apart.

"STEVEN!" Sour cream called as he tried to come down from the booth.

The other cop grabbed me and shoved me aside. "I said stay out of the way!"

"No!"

He grabbed Nathan off the wounded cop and they tried to pin him.

I tried to push the wounded away. "Stop this please!" Again I was grabbed.

"YOU stop this! Do you want to go to jail too?!"

We were both being grabbed.

I don't wanna go to jail.

I don't want HIM to go to jail.

I don't want any of this to happen.

It wasn't supposed to be this way. I just want it to stop.

I just want it to STOP!

I….

Just……

WANT……

IT…..

TO……

 **"STOOOOOP!"**

And then ...everything went slow motion. In a giant pink field everything and everyone was suspended in the air.

It seemed so unreal.

It took a few moments to realize what was going on.

What ...what I was doing.

My gem. I released my bubble.

I quickly retracted it and we all fell, or were thrown to the floor.

As I got up and centered myself, I noticed the two cops have been knocked unconscious from the retraction.

Also, literally everyone was staring at me.

My gem was still glowing and tingling.

The crowd of ravers were either looking down at me with faces of either shock or fear.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of Nate. He was behind a few people, still on the floor, and looking totally starstruck.

I can't believe it. Look at what I've done. All the damage I just caused.

People started muttering to each other.

"Did you see that?"

"Did that boy to that?"

"That was so weird"

"He could have hurt someone"

"What's he doing here anyway?"

"What a freak."

What? N-no. I didn't mean…...did I?

"Never seen anything like that"

"What if he does it again?"

"Get that freak show outta here!"

No.

No.

"N-no. Please. I…"

Everyone is closing in.

I… I have no clue what to do anymore. I don't belong here. I so don't belong here.

I just don't know what to do.

Just as it seemed like I was being boxed in, two black blankets wrap around me and everything goes dark.

I feel a strange warmth against my back.

Then the black fades away, and I can see the room clearly again. The crowd of people were looking around confused. Like they didn't see me anymore.

"Do not make a single noise." Nate's voice whispered above my head.

Then we were moving. Well more like him moving and me being carried. Weaving between people's legs, and running straight out the front entrance. We move across the street, he turns left down the sidewalk, right down an alley, somehow up the side of a building, then we land on a high fire escape.

Everything goes dark again, then the blackness, or maybe just his jacket, open up and I'm let go.

I look up at Nate.

He looks both worried and exhausted.

We just stare at each other as his jacket hangs open. Revealing a not surprising skull t-shirt.I have no idea how he got us out of there, or up here for that matter, but I was sure glad he did.

"Thank you."

I got up. He sort of nodded, zipped his sweater and sat against the wall.

I leaned around the corner of the building to survey the scene. People were walking out of club After Taste in large groups. And ...Sour cream walked out. He looked around. Sort of like he was looking for me.

I can't believe I allowed this to happen. Just one stupid mistake cost me everything. If sour cream had gotten the chance to call my dad this may have been avoided.

Or if I called him I could have told him everything.

If I ...called him… CALLED HIM!

I can't believe I forgot. I left my phone on silent before I left.

I quickly get it out to check it. Oh my gosh. 5 missed calls and 17 unread messages!? Dad has been worried sick about me. I never checked in with him for a moment. How could I have been so stupid? If I had just ridden with him in the first place none of this would have happened. I wouldn't have fought cops twice. I wouldn't have helped a criminal twice. I wouldn't have ruined an entire party by myself. Even when I thought I had everything under control, my decisions just made things worse.

Sour cream was right. Nathan was right. EVERYONE was right. I couldn't handle this.

And if I can't handle something so small, So human, then how can I possibly han-- My thought was interrupted when Nate suddenly turned me and yanked my shirt up.

"Hey! What are you… stop!" I yanked myself away from him. "What's your problem you weirdo? I like making friends, but we're not even close to that stage in our relationship."

"You have a stone in your belly button."

"No Duh."

"You ...you're a--"

"If you wanna call me an idiot again, don't bother. I think it's starting to sink in."

"How long have you had that?"

"What?"

"The stone. How long have you had it?"

"I… I was born with it."

"You were just _'born'_ With a rock in your gut? And you have no idea how or why?"

"That's not true, I do know. I… It's no big deal."

"That's how you caused that pink stasis field back there, wasn't it?"

"Yes. No. I mean ...look shut up! It's none of your business, ok? You wouldn't understand."

"Actually, I think I understand you better than anyone."

"No you don't. Since I met you you've been nothing but an enormous jerk. You mocked me, my friends, my family, you've stolen from people, fought them, and would have abandoned me when you got the chance."

"Yes. I've been a jerk. And I'm sorry."

I had to silence myself to make sure I heard that correctly. "I'm sorry, what did you just say?"

"...( _sigh_ ) yeah, you heard what I said. Don't expect me to repeat it."

"oh ...well, it's accepted. And, I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have dragged you into this. I thought I had this under control, but I just screwed everything up. You didn't deserve to be involved in this."

"Aaagh. Been through worse screw ups. Silver lining though? No one can blame me this time."

We both couldn't help but chuckle at that.

"HaHaha ...oh well. You better just take me back to my motel. I think we still got a bit of time before that dude comes for his bike."

"Yeah… ( _cringe_ ) I can't take you home."

"What? What do you mean you can't? My dad is worried sick about me."

"Yeah. You should call and let him know you're alright, but you'll be stuck with me for a while longer."

As he said this he slowly took off his only glove and clenched his fist.

"Wait a minute. Oh no! You're a kidnapper aren't you? Stay back! Don't think I won't fight you! I know my rights! My friend's dad is a cop! Sort of."

"Steven..." He said, kneeling down in front of me. I think that might be the first time he's said my name. He raised his clenched fist up near his head. "We have a LOT to talk about."

He opens his fist slowly. And… I almost couldn't believe what I saw. But it was really there.

A black, smooth, stripy gem, embedded in the palm of his hand.

 **End of episode 1**


	2. Run the Jewels (revised)

**Steven Universe:**

 **The Bedrock Society**

 _Episode 2: Run The Jewels_

It's almost 9:00 PM. I've been on the phone with my dad for a while trying to explain everything, while my new "friend", Nathan, was in the phone booth. Dad told me everything he did while I was out. He wanted to come looking for me, but thought it would be best to just call the club and wait. After talking with the Bouncer, he came to the club himself, but by then, EVERYTHING had already happened and I was gone. I apologised heavily for leaving without him, and not getting back to him. Then I explained everything that happened to me(except the criminal parts). Including the person that helped me, how we met, why we left, and...the incredible discovery I made about him.

"ANOTHER GEM HYBRID?!" Dad said. "How is that even possible? Rose said you were the first one."

"I don't know." I said back. "But mom said a lot of things that weren't true. I knew she kept a few secrets."

"So did I, But this is crazy! I mean... do you think she even knew?"

"I'm not sure. But I have to find out."

"what are you gonna do?"

"Nathan said he has some place he wants to show me. I think it has something to do with our gems, so I'm going to follow him."

"Where are you going?"

"I don't know."

"When are you going to come back?"

"Probably... tomorrow."

"Are you kidding me? No! I'm coming with you this time."

"He wouldn't trust you. This is just a thing for me and him."

"Well I don't trust him. It's bad enough you almost get hurt at that club, but now you go off all night in this city with a complete stranger to some place you don't even know? What if he's some kinda criminal?"

you have no idea.

"We both have gems, dad. And he's saved my life twice already. I doubt he wants to hurt me."

"I don't wanna take that chance again. I think the best thing to do would be to bring him back with us. The gems probably know more about all this than even he does. And I don't want you to be out here longer than we nee-"

"DAD, PLEASE! Don't you know how I feel about this? I just met someone like me! It's crazy and weird and a little scary, but... this is something I just have to see through. And I need to do it on my own. So please. Just give me till tomorrow to figure this out. And don't tell the gems yet. Please dad. You don't have to Trust him, Just please trust me." Wow I said please a lot.

He hesitated for a bit. Obviously weighing his options. "( _sigh_ ) Ok Steven. I trust you. I'll try to keep this between us. Just please call me first thing in the morning, ok?"

"Ok."

"I love you."

"Love you too, Dad."

We hung up. my phone is at 4 percent, so I turned it off. I wish I brought my charger. I don't know how I'm gonna call dad in the morning, but maybe Nate has a way i can charge it later. Oh right. Now onto my new mission.

Nate is still talking in the phone booth. "Trust me, S. You're gonna love him." Nate said.

"Well, 'cause he annoys me."

That sure feels good to hear.

"I'll buy the food…

no…

I told you. I don't like eggs…

We're not normal. What do I care what's good for me…

( _sigh_ ) Fine. But I don't gotta eat 'em…

And I AM getting them sausages I wanted…

Yes, the chicken apple ones…

A'ight we'll see ya in about an hour…

Peace."

He hung up and came out of the phone booth. "Let's go." he says.

Ok. I need to think about how to approach this. We both have gems and we both have powers. But he calls them stones. So he probably doesn't know why we have them or where they come from. But now he's taking me somewhere that's supposed to be a big surprise, so maybe he'll reveal something I don't know. but I'm not sure how it will compare to knowing we're aliens. So I think I'll wait to tell him everything I know, until I know everything he knows. That's what the Gems would do, right?

It was uncomfortably quiet as we walked, and the questions felt like they were a huge anville hanging over our heads. And we both refuse to acknowledge them for some reason. Someone has to do it sooner or later.

"So… you wanna tell me about your gemstone?"

"Nope."

"OK ...then where are we going?"

"Store."

"Um... after that?"

"You'll see."

That was the last thing he said for a while as we entered the grocery store, Khal-Mart ("prices fit for a king!").

 **~BR~**

We finally got out of there after I think like 25 minutes. Turns out Nate is pickier than I thought. I didn't feel like it was my place to make a choice on the subject, so I just stayed quiet and held the stuff. He spent what was left of his plunder and loaded many common canned fridge items into one of those reusable fabric shopping bags with handles. We also loaded the stuff kinda funny.

"Why did you take a roll of toilet paper out of a package and not just buy the whole thing?"

"I needed to stuff it around the eggs so they don't break."

"Oh. Good call. But you don't think you'd need more than one roll?"

"Sandra usually buys that stuff."

"Oh. Who's Sandra again?"

"You'll see."

"Is She at where we're going?"

"You'll see."

"Is there anyone else there?"

"You will see."

"How many are there?"

"You. Will. SEE."

"Do they all have stones? Powers? Are they-"

"OH MY- YOU-I-Fr'kaka( _stammering_ )... LOOK! If it will calm the storm in your head, I will answer your questions about ME, and ME alone. anything else? you'll just have to wait until we freaking get there. GOT IT?"

"•_•'...ok."

Then we were back to walking to uncomfortable silence. We're really not going to make good friends if he actually enjoys this.

"So, you saw my bubble. And I think you can do some invisible thing. what else can you do?"

"Hmmm. Good question." Then he snatched the grocery bag from me and turned down an alley.

"Wait. Is this the place? Because if not, I really don't think we should be stopping too much. I... don't like it out here."

He stopped and leaned against the wall. Lit only by a lamp near the roof. "Don't worry Kid, we're going. In fact, We're taking the scenic route."

"What do you mean 'sceni...'"

Just then, he began to push his back up the wall with the foot he had resting against it. Then his other foot followed as he kept sliding upward. I can't believe what I'm seeing. Nate can walk on walls!

"oh what?" Nate shouted as he stood up straight. "OH WHAT?! WALKIN ON AIR BOIII!"

"That… is… AWESOME!"

"You know it!"

He begins to moonwalk. "uh! uh! Ya can't touch this."

"Hahaha. Wow. I was wondering how you got us up that fire escape."

"Yup. now c'mon." He says coming down a bit lower and extending his hand to me. "I'll help you up to the roof."

"Oh. uhh, no thanks. I have my own way up."

"Suit yourself, Sandals." He turned and ran up the side of the building, holding the bag to his chest.

the roof, huh? I can probably beat him up there.

I sized up the building to see how hard I needed to jump, I bent my knees readying myself, took a big leap, zipped right by Nate's head, just barely passing the roof, and gently touching down near the edge.

A few seconds later Nate followed and flipped up over the side. "Show off." he said with a scoff.

"Ha ha you should talk."

I followed Nate as we walked along the buildings. He needs to try a bit harder than I do to get from one roof to the next. But he doesn't want my help. This is a much easier and fun way to get around than walking on the streets. And the view, the bigger city in the distance, actually looks beautiful at night.

"Hey, how did you learn you had powers?" I ask him.

"Well," He replied. "when you're constantly running and hiding from punks that you owe money to, active camo and wall clinging come in real handy. they kinda popped up one day when i was in a real jam, and since then I started practicing 'till I had full control over them."

"Oh. That's ...nice. I guess."

"How 'bout you?"

Uh oh. I don't know how to explain that without telling him about the Crystal Gems. Just relax, Steven. Just tell him the barest details.

"Well, I found my bubble when I tried to save my friend from a landslide."

"Oh. So someone else knows you have powers?" He says in a more serious tone.

"Uh...yeah."

"how does your friend feel about it?"

"She thinks it's cool."

"Ok." He stopped and looked straight at me. "Just don't be tellin' anyone else about it, ok? I doubt anyone else is gonna be as big a fan."

"Um, but everyone I know knows I have powers. They all think they're cool."

"well YOU saw what happened at that club." He said, holding back a shout. "you just need to be careful around people. Ok?"

"...Yeah. Sure."

"Good."

He said sternly, as we continued moving.

He's so defensive. But I don't think it's his fault. He was right about the club. Everyone got so afraid and mean. that's the first time I've seen anything like that, but I can only imagine what he's experienced. But not everyone is like that. The people I know aren't like that. And I need to show him. I need to be a really great friend to him, and show him that people can be trusted. So... maybe I should tell him about the crystal gems? No. No not yet. When the time is right.

Nate tightrope walked to the next roof. "Hey what about your jump thing, by the way?" He says, a bit more casual.

"Oh. I just got excited one time and jumped really high. Then I had to learn how to fall faster because I was going really slow."

"How long did that take?"

"All night."

"( _whistle_ ) Brutal. But I bet they come in handy now. What do you usually do with your powers?"

"Oh… you know. Just play around, help my friends, show them some cool tricks stuff, some neet flips, OOH! This one time, me and my BFF Connie were inside my bubble at an amusement park, and the roller coaster knocked us into the ocean! That was so fun."

"Yeah that... sounds like the bomb."

"Haha."

As I leapt to the next roof, I noticed we had to have passed three or four buildings.

"Hey Nate. How much further is this place?"

"Not far. Maybe 20-30 blocks straight that way. Near the river."

"WHAT? That sounds Way far!"

"Relax. It won't kill ya."

"Well what exactly am I looking for?"

"Big old warehouse with a logo of a hand with a rock in it spray painted on the door."

"Ok."

"Oh by the way, when you meet the others, don't bring up my stealing, a'ight?"

"The others? Don't they know what you do for money?"

"Well, yeah. But no... it's complicated. Just do me that solid."

"I don't know. I'm not good at lying." Well considering what i'm currently keeping from him, that's kind of a lie. Well it's still true though… It's complicated.

"you don't need to lie, just don't say anything. It probably won't come up anyway."

"Well ok."

"Cool."

If those other people don't like what he's doing, I don't think I should keep it a secret from them. But that could make Nate mad at me, and then he won't trust me. Plus I guess I owe him for the second time he saved me.

"But I still hope this place isn't much further. It feels like I've been walking all day."

"Oh what? You gonna tell me your feet hurt, and you're tired, and you want me to carry you again?"

"What? No no. I don't wanna ride in that sweater again. I'll be fine."

"Well good."

After a few seconds, he started squinting, turned back to me and stopped.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Uhh nothing. Nothing at all."

"you just said that like it was the very last thing you wanted to do. You trying to say something?"

"Um, well... don't take this the wrong way, but you really, really, stink."

"WHAT? No I don't!... do I?"

I wanted to try to be nice about it. But then I remembered all the jokes he made about me and Sour Cream. And figured this was my chance to get back at him. YESSS. It's time for Evil Steven.

"Oh yeah. You smell like a buff guy got through an intense workout at the gym, used his own sock as a sweat rag, let a friend borrow it, and hung it out to dry for the next day."

He started making some funny faces that were somewhere between befuddled and enraged. "WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY!?"

"I said It's amazing that you can hide from anyone, because your stinky butt gets to a place WAAAAY before you do!"

"WHAT!?! ohthislittle… ( _stammering_ )" He started making those faces, mumbling to himself, and pacing around the roof. I wish I could've recorded this, 'cause it really is a great sight to see. I feel oddly triumphant.

Suddenly he stopped right in my face. "Lemme tell you something. I don't know why it wasn't obvious already, but I don't get access to a shower very often. That's what that is."

"Oh trust me. It was obvious. A little advice though? Some fresh seawater goes a long way."

"Pff. Not in this city, it doesn't."

We both laughed at that statement.

"Well you know what? It's not like I wanna carry your HEFTY behind anyway. Nearly threw my back out last time."

"HEY! What's that supposed to mean?"

"Means you're so fat, you could counterbalance elevators as a side job."

"Hey, I'm not fat. I've been working out. I've lost a lot of weight."

"Yeah? Well it keeps on catching up to ya. Little advice. Try cutting the dime store snacks, and insert some cardio into your routines. Do you some good."

"Excuse you, but how many tall buildings can you leap in a single bound?"

"Oh, not many. How long can you run?"

"Oh, you'd be surprised."

"Would I?"

"Yeah."

We looked into each other's eyes, and put these devious smiles on our faces. With that one look, we knew we both had the same idea. The only question was ...who would make the first move?

Then without warning I SNATCHED the grocery bag out of his hand and ran. Heading in the direction Nate wanted us to go.

"NO YOU DON'T!" He says.

A second later Nate chased after me.

The race was on to make it back to his warehouse first.

The next building was higher, and I made it over with no problem. Since he could cling to the wall, Nate didn't have to worry about climbing it and ran straight up. As soon as he was over he sprinted and closed the distance fast. It was actually pretty scary how fast he got. But I probably should have focused less on him and more on the edge of the roof. I fell straight down, and would have hit my face if I hadn't caught myself in time and floated to the next roof. Nate found a wire connecting the two and literally surfed on it.

I never got to test my jumping powers like this before. Nate was obviously faster with his longer legs, but with some extra concentration I used smaller versions of my jumps to take bigger steps and cover more ground. It was Amethysts idea.

Nate looks like a ninja-monkey. He was climbing and flipping over any obstacle that he came across. Springboarding and swinging off of wires. He was so fluid and perfect, he almost reminded me of Pearl. Even though I can jump higher and further than him, it was really hard keeping ahead of him.

We came to a part of town with a bunch of shorter buildings with pointy angled roofs. It's not a straightaway, so this could be a good place to pull real far ahead of him. I take each roof one at a time, and kind of overestimate the landing a few times. After a few slow treks over the roofs, Nate does something unexpected and runs on the side of the walls. I really wanna do that mind swap thing again so I can just sit back in someone else's body and watch him be that amazing. But now's not the time for admiration. Now's the time for victory.

We come to some flat roofs again and we're soon back to being neck and neck.

"DON'T STEP THERE!" Nate suddenly screams as he slows down.

Before I can even get out a "what?", the floor beneath me gives way and I fall straight down, the bag in my hands flies up, and I crash into a pile of garbage, bricks and wood. That hurt so bad, I felt like crying like when I hit my foot on a rock on the very first day at the beach I can remember. But I fight it off because that would just embarrass me. Nate flips Overhead and grabs the grocery bag before it falls into the same pit i'm in. He leans over the side of the roof cackling like a mad hatter.

"Smooth move beach ball! Word of advice. Always be wary of poorly corrugated roofs. Or lose that weight. Whichever is easier."

Talk about adding insult to injury. If I don't win this he'll never stop bragging about it. I know because I won't either. But why is he just standing there instead of going? Maybe he really cares about my safety? Well this might be messed up, but I can probably use this to my advantage.

I stand up slowly and stretch out the pain. I crouch down and stick my hands up.

"do you need a hand or what?" Nate said, extending his gloved hand to me. "Jump up here Grab on."

As he's kneeling down, he's hanging the bag over the edge. Now's my chance. With all my might, I jump up, and I don't grab his hand, but the bag as I zip by his head.

"HAHA! STEVEN BOMB!" With the bag in my hands I spread my arms and float in the direction we were going.

"Oh you suck for that!" He says looking up, running in my direction.

I threw myself down onto the roof, and right in front of us were two tall brick buildings connected by a bunch of steel pipes. It would probably be easier to just go between them instead of over, but there are all those big pipes too, so this might get a little sketchy.

"you're in trouble now, Stevie wonder!" He said, quickly gaining.

But I disagree. I just got an idea. I've played it out in a million video games. Just really hope it works.

As I reach the end of the roof we're on, I jump to the tall building to the left, slowing just short of the wall. Then I plant my feet firmly on the wall, and shove off of it twisting in mid air to face the building on the right. I made sure to aim so I'm higher and further forward than I was. As I'm about to touch the wall I notice Nate running diagonally upward on the same wall. He nearly reaches me before I push off this wall back to the left building. Just one more jump and I'll reach the closest pipe. I reach the wall, and my heart almost stops as I slip and fall. I suppress my panic, grind my feet against the wall, and force myself up a little harder. I just barely touch the pipe and wrap my body around it as much as I can. Suddenly being as tall and skinny as Nate sounds pretty convenient. But I'd probably be as big as mom or dad when I grow up. IF I grow up? No I'm sure I will. Nate did. Didn't He? Questions for later.

Trying to climb onto the pipe was hard enough, but I'm also holding this bag that is starting to get heavier. Nate reaches the pipe a little after I do and makes it over with ease. I finally climb on top of it, and now I'm gonna try to not have to do that again by landing on top of them.

Nate jumps and swings around the pipes no problem, for some reason on the ones above my head. I am not exactly cat-like like he is, so I land on the pipes very gingerly. The one thing I didn't want to happen happens and I slip. Before falling down I manage to hit my belly and grab onto the pipe. But I also drop the grocery bag. I have no idea what to do about it, but before I can utter a dramatic "NO!", Nate takes a straight nose dive past my head, catches the bag below, turns his body so his back is to the floor, clings his feet to a pipe, swings under and around it, launches upward, throws the bag up, grabs a higher pipe, pulls up to throw himself on top of it, then extends an arm to catch the bag.

I'm already impressed. At this point, it's overkill.

He turns back to me, bows and says, "Snooze ya loose!" Then continues jumping to the end of these buildings.

What are they even doing in buildings like This?

I need to focus. I haven't lost yet. I keep jumping through the pipes until I make it out of them. But I ran out of roofs so I float all the way to the street below.

Nate is nowhere to be found. Did he get that far ahead of me already? I think I would have seen him running. I start looking around for him until

"ZUUL BEACH BALL ZUUL!"

"HWAAAAH!"

I almost jumped out of my own skin. He came out of nowhere, hanging upside down on a fire escape with his arms crossed on his chest.

"HAHAHA! I am Batman!"

I come to my senses and take the bag out of his arms.

"You're no Batman. Don't DARE sully his name!" I say with conviction, then continue running down the street.

"More Batman than you!" He says as he follows.

I'm only guessing I'm going the right way at this point. He said it was straight from where we were, but I'm not even sure how much closer we are. And my exhaustion is becoming harder to ignore. I can't run much longer. Then Nate, who I don't think can get tired, speeds up and gets past me. Taking the bag along the way.

"End …( _BREATHE_ ) of this street, kid ...( _BREATHE_ ) you won't make it!"

I see now. We're almost there. That's why he's speeding up. And he IS getting tired. I can do this. I just gotta power through. Grit my teeth. I can WIN!

"Eat ...( _BREATHE_ ) ...MY …..( _BREATHE_ ) ...DUST!"

I take the bag back and mash it. Quick jumping as hard as I possibly can to pull ahead. He started ninja running and tries as much as he can to keep pace.

We are neck and neck.

We're both holding the bag.

Fighting for control. Fighting to stay ahead.

Our legs and lungs burning.

I see it. The finish line. The grey warehouse. The rock-in-hand logo. It's the final stretch.

Push it to the LIMIT!

"( _simultaneous long primal scream_ )"

With one last effort I take a big leap forward and touch the door barely a second before Nate crashes into it.

I WON!

We both lean against the wall for a few minutes. Gasping for air, avoiding the urge to let our legs give and sit on the ground.

"who's… ( _BREATHE_ ) ...hefty now?" I say with a smirk.

"( _BREATHE_ ) ...I gotta admit." He says, before taking a bottle of water out of the bag and taking a long gulp of it. "Nobody's ever given me a run like that."

He tosses me the bottle.

I take a long sip of it.

"That jumpin was genius. I'm just a little amazed you didn't lose yo sandals back there, man. I think you'll fit right in here, Steven."

I finish the bottle completely. "( _BREATHE_ ) ...I'd blush …( _BREATHE_ ) ...but my face can't get redder."

We both laugh. When I can get my bearings again, I take a look at where we are. It was big and hard to see fully up close. There were spray painted things on all the walls, but only one thing on the door.

"So. This is where you live?"

"Yup. Home sweet home."

"I like your logo. Is that how you let people know this is private?"

"Pretty much. But it hardly catches on."

"Well you usually hide your rock hand. Why did you choose this sign?"

"Well it was that or some other things. We put it to a vote."

"( _GROAN_ ) This suspense is killing me! Who is we? Who are they? Who is Sandra? Who else is here?"

"Calm yourself, child. All will be revealed in due time."

Nathan pulled a key from his shoe. He unlocked the large metal door, then rolled it up.

 **~BR~**

As he closed and locked it behind us, I got to look at the whole building from the inside. He wasn't kidding when he said this place was old. There were beams holding up the ceiling. They all have broken bits. Some to the point that you can see the metal bars in the concrete. The walls and floors were all cracked, dust and cobwebs everywhere, and the walls were decorated with a lot of spray paint. Words in bubbly or blocky letters, and some really well drawn pictures. All windows are high to the ceiling. Only two windows are still intact, the rest were boarded up with wood. I picture Nate walking all the way up there to drill the wood where those windows are. We stopped at this door at the far right wall.

"Alright Steven. Are you ready to meet my family?"

"Oh. Um…. I'm usually not good at first impressions. What should I say? Can we stay out here and practice some greetings? I have a few funny ones."

"HAHA. Dude, just be yourself. Only like, less dorky."

"( _inhale and exhale_ ) Ok. I'm ready."

"Also don't say-"

"Yeah I know."

"Ok."

He turned the knob and opened the door and we walked in. The room was smaller than the rest of the building, but still big compared to other rooms I've been in. The walls were decorated with hundreds of jewels. Some broken, most of them whole. I wonder how they're sticking to it. Hip hop music was playing quietly. At the far side of the room, were a TV set and a bunch of chairs.

And in three of them …some people were sitting.

"Stand at attention, Losers!" Nathan said to break the silence.

"N! YOU'RE BACK!" Shouted one of the girls in the room.

"'Sup, dude." Said the other one. She looks familiar for some reason.

The first girl skateboarded over to where we were standing. She was very young. She seemed only a little older than me. She had many earrings on. Her hair was orange, and tied in two red pigtails. She wore a white tank top under a short yellow jacket with black patches, yellow leggings with red stripes, and black boots with pink souls. She abandoned the skateboard and pounced onto Nate. They hugged tightly.

"HAHA Where've you been? You're so late!"

"'Ey. I'm here, ain't I?" He said, stopping the skateboard with his feet. "Get off my back about it."

"I'm not on your back." She climbed around and sat on his shoulders. "NOW I'M ON YOUR BACK!" She started drumming his head.

"Gaaagh! Little spida monkey."

He put the bag on the skateboard and pushed it toward the recliner chair to the right of the tv set. Sitting in it was the other girl, with her green eyes glued to her phone. She was big. Bigger than the others. She had a lot of piercings, wild pink hair, a short white top, cargo pants with a hole in them, and black boots. I swear I've seen her before, but I can't put my finger on it.

"How was work?" She said.

"Oh you know. The usual. My feet are tired. Get off, L."

He pushed L off his shoulders, and she didn't fall down, but floated off. Does she….

"OOOh is this the new meat S mentioned? Hi! How are ya? I'm Lydia! What's Your name? Do you got a jewel? LET ME SEE!"

"Hi. I'm good. Nice to meet you. I'm Steven. Yeah. Check it." I lifted up my shirt to show her my gem.

She finally reached the floor and crouched in front of it. "Oooooh pretty."

"Look alive, geek. We have a guest." Nate said from across the room.

He sat down in a chair behind the bean bag chair to the left of the tv screen. Sitting in that chair was the only other boy in the room. He only smiled and waved at me before turning back to the game he was playing on the pretty old atari console they had. He was probably my age or younger, Darker in skin than the others. He had a black headband on, wore a grayish shirt under a camouflage jacket that seemed two sizes too big for him, golden brown cargo pants and black boots. Sensing a theme here.

The tall one came over to where we are. "Good to meet you, Steven. Name's Sandra. Welcome to the club."

She bent over slightly and lent me her hand. I shook it. It's funny. From the front she kinda looks like my… Mom… No way. NO WAY! I remember now!

"HEY I KNOW YOU!"

"Wait what?"

"Wait WHAT!?" Nathan followed.

"You're the mystery girl Pearl met at that concert a few months ago. You gave her your phone number."

"You're friends with Pearl? Oh Cool! that chick is crazy, man."

"You've met this kid before?"

"Actually, I honestly don't remember you at all."

"Come on. I was with Pearl that night? Me and amethyst? With the purple hair?"

"Hmm ...sorry. I guess I never saw you."

"You always forgettin stuff!"

"shut up, Nate."

"Doesn't Pearl ever mention me when you talk on the phone?"

"OH snap! Yeah. Well we only really talked once since we met, but a Steven did come up a lot. She said he was very funny, kind, and always brought the best out in people."

"Yes I'm that Steven!"

"Oh cool. Well it's nice to finally meet face to face."

"YEAH! But why are you here?"

"Good question. Ready for another surprise, hun?"

She rolled up her sleeve, and on Her right shoulder was a pink square gem.

"No way."

"Yeah. And that ain't a piercing. It's the real deal."

"I-I don't believe it. Do you all… ?"

"POSITIONS KIDS!" She interrupted, walking toward the TV. The music was turned off.

Nate got up, takes off his glove and stands beside her.

Lydia cartwheels to their right, throws her jacket away and stands with her back to me.

The youngest stopped playing his game, takes off his headband, and sits cross legged in front of Nate and Sandra.

He has a jagged dark green round gem in the center of his forehead. With… a big dark crack in it.

Lydia pulled down the back of her top, revealing an orange oval gem between her shoulder blades.

Above the fist gripping her shirt, she held her other hand open against it.

The other three held similar hand gestures. In one hand, a closed fist. In the other, an open palm connecting vertically above the first. Each trying to keep their gem exposed.

Then they all except the youngest started chanting in order of Nate, Sandra, then Lydia.

"Welcome to the club, Sandals!"

"We are the Bedrock Society!"

"We didn't choose it!"

"But we'd rather die than lose it!"

"We hide in plain sight!"

"But always ready to fight!"

(together) "BEDROCK FO LIFE!"

They broke formation and high fived Each other.

"Yeah! Nailed it!"

I probably should say or do something. Clap, cheer, or use some sarcasm Nate would like. Something like, _"and you call me a dork"_. But, I just stood there and stared with my mouth wide open. For an awkwardly long time. This is way too much to process. I was told for the longest time that I was unique. That I was the only one. That no other Gem has ever done what my mom did with a human. But today, I found not one hybrid like me, but four. And they all know Each other, they all have formed a secret club for it, and they are all so. Freaking. Cool. This changes everything we knew. Imagine all the things we could learn from them. Or what they could learn from us. OH SHOOT! There's still so much they don't know about Gems. Should I tell them now or…

"Yo Steven. You still alive over there? Come sit down. Let's talk."

"Oh. OK."

I pulled up a folding chair and we all sat around their TV set.

"This is incredible! I can't believe there are so many people like me under one roof."

"Yeah! Aren't we cool?" Lydia said. "I came up with that routine myself! Did you love it?!"

"Uhh yeah. It was great."

"Forgive her, dude." Sandra said. "It's been awhile since we found someone new."

"Oh. How did…"

The youngest started waving wildly and pointing to himself.

"Oh Crap!" Nate blurted. "We never introduced you A, did we?"

"Yeah I'm sorry, hun." Sandra retorts. "His name is Arno. He's from the uhh ...the checkers ...um...The Shack ...jump in any time, fellas."

"( _chuckle_ ) Oh no. I'd hate to deprive you of your moment, S."

"You don't know either, do you N?"

"Wha- Psh. Yeah! Of course I do. It's uhh..

….the Chimneys …...um ...the Uhh the chickwich ..."

Arno is simply hanging his head in shame.

"THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA!" Lydia enthusiastically interjected.

"Yeah! Dang. That. Somewhere in Europe."

"WOW. That sounds cool. I've never heard of that place before. What's it li… wait. Can he speak our language?"

"Oh yeah," Nate answered. "He speaks English just fine. He just can't speak at all right now."

"Oh. What happened."

"Widdle Bro got jogged in the noggin!" Lydia said, wrapping her arms around him and tapping him on the top of his head.

"He likes to go out and explore on his own. Even though we tell him not to." Sandra added. "He got lost in the woods a couple of weeks ago and was attacked. We saved him from getting seriously hurt, but his head took pretty bad hit. His jewel got cracked, and he hasn't been able to talk since. And since we have no idea what'll happen if it gets worse, we're keeping him on his butt till we figure out how to fix it."

"Wow. I'm… sorry to hear that." So something does happen if our gems get cracked. That's something new. I can probably heal him now. My spit may not always work, but I should at least try. But if I do, it's gonna open up the gates for a lot of new questions. And they aren't ready to hear the answers yet. Not until they really trust me. But this is getting pretty hard.

Arno does some gestures to Sandra. "It's ok. He wants us to talk about something happier anyway. Like how we met."

Arno nods his head.

"Oh yeah! I was gonna ask that."

Nate speaks first. "Well the little explorer here lost his family then hopped the first boat he found to check right outta the Czech. Nothing was really holding him back, you know. When he got to the states, apparently he earned money as a grease monkey for a while, and had to make it out on the streets. That's where me and S found him about two years ago. Now he's our resident egghead."

"He's got an insane amount of talent with a wrench." Sandra said. "If it weren't for him this place wouldn't even have electricity running."

"Hey I help sometimes."

"Yeah, in a Boss/intern sort of way."

"Man…"

"That's amazing. What kind of stuff can you build? Jet packs?"

Arno shakes his head.

"Rocket powered cars?"

Arno shakes his head again.

"Rocket powered…... motorcycles?"

He shakes again.

"...Rocket--"

"Steven?" Nate cut in. "He. Is not. A rocket. Scientist!"

I looked to Arno. He agreed to that.

"Awww…."

"Sorry, hun. His thing is more just fixing old stuff rather than making new ones."

"Sure would help if he could build us all new phones."

"Oh that reminds me. Could I charge my phone? It's dead."

"Sure. Give it here."

I took my phone out and tossed it over to Sandra. She got up, took her charger out and went to plug it into the wall.

"OOH! OOH! Do me next!" Lydia shouted out of nowhere.

"You mean describe you? You still have a voice."

"Oh Yeah!"

She flipped in front of me and almost hit their TV. She started talking in a Scottish accent for some reason. "Woonce aye were a wee lass, cast astray into de culd unknoon, When I were aull-a-sodden plocked like a ripe grape by da circus lad!"

"You know you're not good at that accent?" Nate interrupted.

"Shut your chomper, you coal!" She stopped the accent. "Anyway, these nice trapeze artists raised me and put me in an act with their fire dancing buddies. But I lost them and was all alone, so I set out to do my own thing in Empire City. Doing street dancing, painting, contorting, I was on fire!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, that one was a real head turner. I was also very entertaining. HA! Then these guys found me and let me crash at their place."

"Oh, so you play with fire. That's cool."

"Oh silly goose. I AM FIRE!"

She grabs a piece of paper, and with some straining it bursts into flames.

"WHOA!"

"'Ey! 'ey! What did we say about lighting up in the house?"

"I'm not even… oh." Sandra says from across the room, putting the groceries in the refrigerator. "Yeah put that out, please."

"Oops. Sorry." She stomps out her fire.

"That's so cool you can make fire?"

"HAHA no. It's just the heat. But it would be so sick if I could shoot fire like a dragon, Huh?"

"Yeah!"

"OOH! I can also do this!"

She then jumps in the air, folds her arms behind her head, and sways down to the floor just like paper in the wind.

"Wow you can float?"

"Sure can!"

"That's neat. I float too."

Nate and Lydia hopped up so fast, got right in my face, pulled creepy poses and screamed, "WE ALL FLOAT DOWN HERE! MWAHAHAHAHA!"

I almost hid under my seat. I can't take anymore scares.

"HAHAHAHAHA Man N, this guy's too easy!"

"Ha I know, right?"

"Knock it off, you goofballs. So you got powers too? Have you seen Nate's?"

"Yeah. He can camouflage and cling, right?"

"I am Ninja." Nathan does a ninja sign and dissolves into his char for 3 seconds.

"What's Your second one?"

"I can make indestructible bubbles!"

I stand up and put a bubble around myself.

"Well, it's sort of indestructible, but it breaks down when I get tired or something, and sometimes it'll stay up for no reason but it's still cool, right?"

"Heck yeah, it is."

"OOOH it's like a big pretty hamster ball! Can I take it for a ride some time? NOW?"

"HAHA sorry." I put the bubble away. "It only works with me. But we can go together."

"Aww."

"What about you, Sandra? What are your powers?"

"Oh. Me and Arno don't have our two powers yet. I'm not sure if we'll actually get them."

"Oh. That's too bad."

"Hey don't sell yourself short, S." Nathan said. "You're still strong enough to move a bus."

"WOW, Really?"

"Yeah. I guess when I try really hard." She finished with the groceries. "Ok now A, gimme my coat. We're going out."

"All right!" Lydia yelled. She quickly snatched up her own jacket.

Arno took off his Jacket and gave it to Sandra. I thought it looked too big for him.

"Wait. What do you mean Going out?"

"Don't you wanna see what we do for fun?"

"Right now? But it's so late at night."

"Please, Sandals." Nathan said, throwing Arno a grey hoodie with green sleeves. "We own the night."

And my worries were overcome by joy and excitement.

 **~BR~**

They packed some stuff into a backpack and we left on some vehicles. Sandra let me ride on that motorcycle she had when we first met. Nathan rode a dirt bike. No helmet. Arno rode with him. Lydia stood on this crazy fast electric scooter. There were no cars on the streets we were on, so they were allowed to go as frighteningly fast as they wanted. On the bright side, the back of Sandra's bike is way more comfortable than the one Nate took earlier. Music played through their radio as we rode. A lot of punk rock and rap songs. But more… aggressive than I'm used to. Dad probably wouldn't let me listen to this.

We stopped under this overpass with a bunch of grafiti under it. Nate and Lydia grabbed some cans of paint, and Arno, a flashlight. He aimed the light up toward the overpass. Sandra bound her fingers and held Nathan's foot, then he jumped while she pushed him up to the overpass. He clung to the surface and Lydia followed suit. She can float like me, but she can't jump high? Nate caught Lydia just like one of those trapeze videos I saw. She flipped up, he held her tight around the waist, bent up and clung his hands. Letting Lydia hammock on him while she painted.

"Why doesn't Nate just paint by himself?"

"Because he paints on the side of the bridge. This is L's piece. She's been working on it for a while."

"UP!" Lydia shouted.

Arno aimed the light above their heads.

"She won't tell us what it's supposed to be yet. But she can make some seriously beautiful tags in an hour or two. Something that takes this long? It ought to be close to god."

"They're really close, aren't they?"

"Yeah. I'm just glad he found someone to keep up with him. They have the same idea of fun, you know? Speaking of which. How did you meet Nate?"

"Oh we ...um…" Oh boy. This is what I was afraid of. _"Won't come up,''_ he says.

"Well… I was trying to watch a show for my friend in town. I... ran into him outside of the store. He actually saved me from getting hit by traffic. Then I told him I was lost and needed help finding the place I was going to. So he used some of his money to buy a nice man's bike. Then he took me right there, and even bought us tickets out of the goodness of his heart."

She looks at me curiously for a bit. I am really hoping she buys what I'm saying.

"Cool." She finally said. Whew. "So how did you see his powers and rock? He never lets anyone see it."

"Oh well some… bad guys were trying to hurt him, and I accidentally used my bubble trying to protect him."

"Bad guys?"

"YES. Things were gonna get worse, then he used his invisibility to get us out. Then he took his glove off, we went shopping, he showed me his clinging, then we raced back to your club house. I won that."

"Oh so that's why you're so dirty."

"I'm what?" I never really looked at myself. I can't tell in this low lighting, but I definitely feel how grimy I am now.

"Sorry I didn't wanna say anything."

"You don't have a bath back there do you?"

"Nope."

"Aww man."

When they got bored of painting, they offered me a turn at it. I declined. We got back on the bikes and went to this scrap metal yard. Reminds me of Amethysts room. They looked until they found a familiar old car. Inside of it's trunk was a big metal target board, and a bunch of makeshift axes. All Arno's creation. They found a barrel of oil. With it they made a small bonfire. Then Lydia dipped two small axes into the rest of the oil and ignited them. Then she started doing some flashy dances with them, as fast paced tribal/techno music played from a CD in their radio. Everyone was very into it. I was awestruck by her skills. I've heard of fire dancing but i've never actually seen it in person. Sometimes the fire looks like it moves on its own.

"So what do you and Pearl do when You're together?" Sandra asked.

"Um, nothing really. Whatever I want." I answer. I'm running out of dodges. "What do you and Nate do for work?"

"well he only works cash paying odd jobs until I can find him something full time. He said he found something at the docks. Loading trucks or something. And me and my mom run a flower shop. We actually keep bees and grow most of our own stuff."

"That sounds great. Why doesn't he work there with you?"

"Tried it. Totally tanked. Staying in one place, doing slow delicate work, pleasing customers, just not his thing man. I want him to do something that really makes him happy."

"You really take care of them huh?"

"I do my best. I guess we all kinda do."

Lydia got tired of dancing then she and Arno propped up the target board. She lit up two big double-sided axes.

"All right! Let's be VIKINGS!"

Arno tried to get one.

"No not you, A."

Sandra popped up. "Yo I got dibs! Gimme that!"

Sandra grabbed one of the axes. She could easily hold it with one hand. But Lydia was having trouble carrying hers. I ended up gripping my seat real hard 'cause I was afraid she was about to burn herself. But she regained her composure, then heaved the axe with all her might. It stuck right into the targets 4th outer ring. They must have put something in the target, because the flames traced around the ring before evaporating. It was so cool I started clapping.

Nate came up and tapped my shoulder. "Sooo, What exactly did you say to her?" He whispered.

"What?" I whispered back.

"Apparently I'm some kind of hero, and do things out of the goodness of my heart all of a sudden? What the heck?"

"I wanted to paint you in a positive light."

"You kidding me? I sound like a total pansy."

"What did you want me to say? You said she wouldn't bring up why we were together. I had to think of something."

"Well you could have thought up something more realistic. Now she's suspicious."

"Maybe you should stop doing bad things."

"It's not that easy. Did you say anything else while we've been here?"

"No. She still thinks you have a job. Why can't you make flowers? That sounds like an awesome job."

"It is so freaking boring. You have no idea."

"Hey N! A! Sandals!" Sandra yelled from the bonfire. Now she's saying it. "Pay attention!"

Then she gave the flaming axe a little twirl, reared her arm way back, and chucked it at the target with immense force. It spun as fast as a boomerang. It nailed the target in the second ring to the center. Almost knocking the whole thing down. The fire one again traced the ring. We all stomped and cheered that amazing throw.

"A'ight, let me get this. Light me one." Nate said after all the clapping.

Sandra moved her and Lydia's axes off the target board. Lydia ignited an axe and gave it to Nate, then he gets in a battle ready stance.

He stops his stance and looks at me. "Steven, you wanna try one?"

"Oh. Uhh, no thanks I'm good."

"Ah, come on. Do it. Do it. DO IT! DO IT!"

Soon all the Bedrocks are chanting _"Do it"_ in unison. I know I shouldn't give in to peer pressure, but technically I only have one peer here and he's not saying anything. Plus if this makes me more friendly…

"Ok sure." Then they all cheer.

Lydia lights up a small axe and gives it to me. I'm kind of hesitant around the fire, but the axe is light and easy to manage.

"Whaddaya say, kid? Think you can get closer to the center than me?"

"I have no idea what to do with this." I've thrown my shield many times, but never something like this. Especially not one that is on fire.

"It's easy. Just do what I do. Put your dominant foot back,"

I did that.

"And grip the axe with your dominant hand above the other."

I do that.

"Point your chest toward the target, and point the axe head toward it."

I do this. Starting to feel more like a stretch.

"Remember to breathe. Now reach the axe back OVER your head. Not around it,"

I let him do this alone first.

"Not too far. Don't burn your back."

"Ok."

"And when you throw it, you release at the chest-high point you started. Not above it, or below it, right there at the target."

"uh-huh."

"Now take one last deep inhale, and…"

He heaved and lobbed the axe right into the third ring. The flame went around, everyone clapped.

"See? now you try."

"Alright."

I took a deep breath to compose myself. I arched the axe over my head, and…

Nathan started mumbling to himself. "Miss it. Miss it. Miss it. Miss it. Miss it…" He began to lean closer and closer into my ear. "Miss it. Miss it. Miss- OWE!"

A pebble nailed him right in his forehead.

"Stop it, Nathan." Sandra said. "Be cool, Steven! You got this!"

I took a bit to recompose myself. I could feel the heat if the fire course all through my body. I took a deep breath, and let out a primal yell as I heaved the axe over my head. It spun like glowing discus and we all held our breath as it flew right…. Over ….the target. And the trash pile… behind it. And it set like the sun. Out of sight. We don't know where it went, but there was definitely glass there. I think I heard a cat wail too.

"Y-You let go--" Nate began.

"Too early?" I finished.

"Yeah. A little too early."

A light turned on in the distance.

An old, gruff voice soon followed with, "WOT IN TARNATION?!"

A wave of immense panic came over all of us. No words passed between the bedrocks, but they knew they had to quickly douse the fires, hide the equipment, and high-tail it for the fence we came over. We hopped on our bikes just as the silhouette with the flashlight got to where we used to be. We drove off fast and furiously.

When we got to a comfortable position on the road, the ridiculousness of the situation hit us. We looked at each other, then started chuckling. And then that escalated to full on maniacal laughter.

Lydia was the first to let out a big "WOO-HOOO!"

Then it was Nathan.

Then Sandra.

And even me.

With a raging fire inside of All of us we chanted and howled at the moon like animals. Nathan got up and started surfing on his bike. With his foot on the handle and Arno keeping grip of his ankle. I haven't felt this way in so long. This free, this awake, this alive. I can't even describe this. I just don't want this night to end.

 **~BR~**

We returned to their clubhouse to cook some chilli for dinner. They were telling more stories of their misadventures. Arno made Lydia's scooter for her, and It's engine out of a lot of different things that I had no idea could even work together. And apparently they fight this gang of dirt bikers a lot. That's where Nate got his bike from.

"HAHAHAHAHA! you're kidding!" I said.

"HAHA, nope! All 45 minutes, and they never saw me on that bike. Only when the dude came back to leave, could I swipe his keys and ghost-ride that whip outta there. Bet money they still think the place is haunted."

"And you all were fine with it?"

"Meh, those jerks had it coming." Sandra replied.

"OOH! You tell us a story now!" Lydia said in my face.

"Yeah, you got anything better than roller coaster launching?"

"Nothing as insane as you guys. You are amazing!"

"Well, these rocks ain't all they're cracked up to be."

"HAHA! Cracked! Like Arno's!"

"L. Not nice."

"Hey you said you two found the other two." I said to Nate and Sandra. "I haven't heard how you guys met."

"Oh well that is quite the tale right there, I tell you what."

Nathan stood and got into a pose. Head down, one hand on his hip, the other with a finger pointed down. He deeply inhaled, brought his head up, and the finger up with it. "FOR YOU SEE!"

"heaven help me." Sandra face-palmed.

"It were five years in the past when I was making my usual rounds, taking all that I saw fit, No one the wiser. When one cold autumn night, I happened upon this big, towering, alluring pink goddess, whom I assumed had much on Her person to plunder. I made my move for her bag, but she was at the ready. And we fought. Boy did we fight? We had ourselves a duel of fates, what seemed like an eternity of pure carnage!"

"What are you talking about? I beat you to a pulp in like a minute."

"PFFFF!" I couldn't hold it together.

Nate just froze and pulled a stupid face. " ...It was not a minute."

"It was less than a minute."

"It was hard fought, back and forth, no holds barred…"

"It was over before it even started."

"We eventually found ourselves at a stalemate…"

"You begged for mercy and cried yourself to sleep."

"And! In that moment! We respected each other! As worthy adversaries…"

"I think you peed a little."

"Grrrr SANDRA! For God's sake, will you shut up? You're embarrassing me!"

"You're embarrassing yourself, sweetie. Sit down." She stood, gave him two light taps on the cheek.

He sat down in a huff.

"So, I was just defending myself, but I couldn't just leave him like that. So I took him to the hospital. When I heard he was awake, I brought him some apology flowers, but he was still pretty ticked about the whole thing. But I noticed he had a jewel in his hand, showed him mine, and we just sort of started bonding. We've been searching for Bedrocks ever since. Well that and a job for him."

And the whole time, they have never seen a full gem. Have they?

"You have really made something special here, you know."

"Thanks, little dude."

"Yeah, well You're a lot easier to convince than the rest of the world."

"Hehe." I took a deep yawn. "Hey. Why do you think you... we, are the way we are?"

"Oh we've got a few theories on that, actually." Nate answered first.

"Really?"

"Yup. Lydi?"

"YES! On it! Arno? My folder!"

Arno brought out a large art portfolio with the bedrock logo on the cover. He'd flip the pages in it to show what Lydia was saying.

My tiredness is getting harder and harder to ignore, but I really wanna stay awake for this.

"Ya see, we don't think we were born with stones and powers for nothing." Nate said first.

"We believe we have been endowed with great power by the spirit of Gia. The mother of the Earth!"

"At some point a long time ago, mankind upset the balance of the world, and the earth sought vengeance. Sent earth demons and stuff to reclaim."

"But Gia wanted to restore peace and balance to the earth. So she sent disciples to protect people."

(Simultaneous) "And so we harness the power of the earth, and guide humanity into a better age!"

"If you guys publish this, I want a cut." Sandra inserts, giggling.

"Hey! This is real!"

"Or, you know just one theory. Some others up there are, science experiment gone bad, next stage in evolution, or just defective genes."

"Those all sound really interesting. But don't you think Gods and demons sounds just a little far fetched?"

"It's actually the most likely. We've seen them."

"...What?"

Lydia took her portfolio from Arno. She flipped back to the page he flipped to when Nate mentioned monsters. It was a crude drawing of some long fuzz ball with thick spider legs, two mouths, an eye on its tail, and a gem in the middle of Its head.

"This thing here ain't fake. We've met some other things like this."

"I... I don't…"

"Hey Steven." Sandra said. "Don't be afraid, but there are real monsters out there."

"Yeah these freaky lookin beasts with powers and stones like us. But they are mindless, feral, and way dangerous."

They….they've met the corrupted?

"Big bullies won't leave us alone!"

"they're attracted to us for some reason."

"But they also attack other people some times."

"So we take them out first! That's why we play with axes!"

"We find them suckers out in the woods, hack em up, and stick em on our wall."

The jewels. On their wall. All around us. Some of them ...are gems.

"It's pretty convenient for us. The reason we think they're demons is because they just evaporate if you beat them too bad. Don't see how that's physically possible."

"But the real kicker, is that they don't stay down for good."

"Yeah. At some point, they come back, pop off the wall and start wrecking the place."

"Happened like three times until four months ago. We figured the only way to keep them down for the count, was to break the rocks at their core."

"B-break them?"

"Yeah. We took all the ones we already had off the wall, and started smashing them. At least I think we did. Then we did the same to the new ones we beat."

No. Some of them. The broken ones. The shattered- No. They... they Shattered NO!

"Yeah some of those buddies are kinda tough, but mostly they're real softies."

"Yeah that's cause we pwned those suckers! Know what I'm saying?"

"That right!"

They all high fived Each other.

"Yeah you don't need to worry about a thing, kid. Nobody messes with the bedrocks. I promise ya."

(...)

(...)

(...)

"Steven?"

(...)

(...)

(...)

"Hello! EARTH TO NEWBIE!"

"Is everything alright hun? I told you you don't need to worry."

"How many?"

"huh?"

"How many of them have you shattered?"

"Oh. Um…" She looked around the room. Counting. "I dunno. Fifteen, 25? I know it couldn't be more than thirty. We haven't fought that many--"

"NOOO!" MY chair flew across the room.

"WHOA!"

"The heck's wrong with you?"

"You can't Just kill them!"

"What do you mean we can't kill them? We've been killin them."

"NO! You can't! They don't know any better!"

"Steven please. You need to calm down."

"How could you?!"

"Listen I like animals too. If there were any other way to handle these thing we'd do it. They could kill someone if we don't."

"There's always another way! I always find another way! They aren't just animals, They're just like us but they're sick! You think random animals exist with gemstones like you just for you to mount on your wall like trophies? You have no clue what you're doing!"

"Hey! Hold up!" Nate snapped and got up. "Just who the hell do you think you are, Sandals? I save you butt, I bring you here, I show you my world, I try to show you that we ain't alone. And what are you up to? You talk down to us? You say we're just like those low-down, filthy, murderous rodents out there?"

"That's not what I meant."

"That's EXACTLY what you meant! We are nothing like them! Those monsters did THAT to Arno! We have to fight those things to survive. That's what we've been doing without monsters. That's what I HAVE been doing! My whole life! You have no right to judge us. Tell us the right way to fight."

"Look I wasn't judg--"

"Yeah you were!"

"Nathan."

"He's been doing it this whole time! Playing cool, sitting back, askin all them questions, but when he comes up he shuts down. Ain't that right? Because you've been sheltered, and made to think everything should go perfectly in that beach house kumbaya you've got going on. But in the real world? You're in the same boat as us, kid! It happened at that club! They wanted to pounce you as soon as you popped your bubble out!"

"That's no excuse to do the same to others!"

"What do you know?"

"I know I wouldn't have even needed my bubble if the cops weren't chasing you in…" Oh no.

Nate's eyes widened and teeth clenched.

"Wait. Cops?" Sandra said, shocked.

"Uhh…."

"Um…"

"Nathan why were cops chasing you?"

"Uhh he didn't mean cops, he meant….. um…"

"He said bad guys attacked you in that club were you both lying?"

"No no. I was--"

"Were you lying about his 'goodness of the heart' crap too? Steven what happened?"

Nathan was glaring daggers at me. Breathing heavy, and looking like he might vomit. I'm cornered. I don't know what to do. I don't even know what to say that she would believe. I can't keep lying. I don't know what would happen to him if I don't. Actually, I'm not even sure why I'm still lying for him. I'm not sure I even care anymore.

"...He robbed the store I was in."

"WHAT?" Sandra stood.

Suddenly Nathan's face turned into blind rage. "You... you Snitching little--"

"NATHAN! What are you doing robbing stores? You have a job!"

"Um. Well--"

"Oh my god. You don't even really have a job, do you?"

"Look I can explain."

"You said you were done with this! You promised me! You looked me in the eyes, and you Promised me! How could you do this?"

"It is not that easy, OK? I have no experience, No papers, and every place just wants me to be some stooge!"

"You know, You don't make it easy. I try to help you, give you chances, help you apply, give you work at my shop, but you just think It's too hard. I try to change for you, but you always bail and go back to the same nasty habits. It was just pity when it was only you at risk. But now when we got those two to worry about? You put THEM in danger? When are you gonna grow up?!"

"Everything I do is for th--"

"Stop. You know what? I don't wanna hear your excuses. Just… just go to your room."

"But--"

"Now! Nate."

He looked like he wanted to say something else, but just threw his arms down in defeat. He turned, shooting me a quick glance that gave me chills, and walked out the door to the garage.

Arno was in a fetal position crying. Lydia was just cross legged, patiently waiting for what happens next.

Sandra just stood where she was, with her head in her hand, for maybe over a minute. "( _sigh_ ) Ok. It has been a long night. We should all just go to bed. I'm spending the night. Steven? We made you a bed on the roof before you got here. And don't forget your phone. It's done charging."

"...Sandra. I didn't mean to--"

"JUST… go. please."

I just took my phone, and left for the door. I found the stairs. Climbed them until I found the roof. The bed is just a sleeping bag, blanket, and a few pillows under a canopy. It's 12:30. My body has never felt heavier. I cave into the bed. Get as snug as I can. I usually like sleeping under the stars. But the stars aren't out tonight. In Jersey City.

What have I done? How could I say those things? I wasn't trying to call them monsters. The corrupted aren't monsters. They're just gems who don't know any better. They don't know that, though. Should that even matter? They killed them. They knew what would happen if they shattered the gems, but they still did it. Killing is wrong. No matter what you are. That is what the crystal gems have always taught me. That's what my dad taught me. My mom… couldn't teach me that. Would she? She's shattered before. But that was once. I've hurt people… More than once now. GRRR why can't I stop thinking about it? I know what I have to do. We fight homeworld because our world is at stake. And the Bedrocks? They fight for a world at stake too. Just a different one. ( _Sigh_ ) I don't know what I was expecting coming here. I can't tell them about homeworld. I can't bring them to the gems. We're just too different. We've gone through different things. We have two different battles to fight. And we can't understand each other. He was right. I have no right telling them what's right. He had no right saying my world isn't real. I don't belong here. My eyes get heavy. Everything fades to black.

 **END OF EPISODE 2**


	3. Touch Me I'm Sick (revised)

**Steven Universe:**

 **The Bedrock Society**

 _Episode 3: Touch Me I'm Sick_

The skies are pink and clear. The light grass tickles my skin. I feel a familiar, comforting sensation. Somewhere between warm and cool. I'm home. A better place than home. This is where I belong. I'm so happy to be here. I take a deep sigh to take in the air of my home. But… No air enters my lungs. Or leaves it. There's no air in here. I can't breathe in this place at all. Wait a minute, I'm not dreaming. I really do know this place. Is this… IS THIS LION!?

I struggle and push against the pressure sitting on my chest, until I yank my head out of the dimension inside of Lion's mane. I gasp for air, and kneel on my knees. Trying to get my bearings again. Some wakeup call. I look around and remember where I am. Not the soothing lush plains of Lion's mane, but this cold and grimy roof in Jersey City. The sky is still grey, The buildings are still high, It still smells of fish, And… I still regret everything that happened yesterday.

I look over to my pet, who is just patiently sitting there staring at me.

"Lion! What did I say about waking me up like that? You know there's no air in there."

He said nothing. I took it as back talk.

"I don't care if you're cuddly. Also, how did you even find me here?"

Again, He didn't say anything. Just sort of growled or yawned.

"Oh. I guess you can track things for some reason. Well, I'm really glad to see you buddy." I pet his mane, and he licked my face.

"But, why are you here?"

He got up and roared a portal next to me.

"Oh. You're taking me home, huh?" I thought about the really emotionally and physically exhausting day I had yesterday. I looked at my dirty, clammy body. After that, I actually couldn't wait to get home. I just wanted to forget this mistake. But, there's still some things I need to do first. "Just… hold that though, Lion. I can't leave yet."

He took the portal back.

I took my phone out of my pocket. It's 10:15. Hesitantly, I dialed my dad. Hoping he wouldn't be upset, but preparing for it anyway.

He eventually picked up. "Steven? Is that you?"

"Um, hi dad."

"Ohh! Thank God you're ok!... are you Ok?"

"Yeah. I'm fine."

"You really can't make a habit out of this. I was so worried, I could barely sleep last night. I almost didn't even drive home in the first place."

"I'm sorry. I promise I won't. You can even ground me, if you want."

"Well we'll see if we need to do that later."

"Hehe… yeah."

There was a bit of a pause between us.

"So…" He said first. "What did you learn about that Nathan guy? The um… the hybrid."

"Oh ...nothing. There was no hybrid."

"What? But you made a pretty big deal of it yesterday. That's the only reason you're up there. What happened?"

"I said there was nothing, ok? It was just a waste of time?"

"Oh. Ok. So, what should I tell the Gems then?"

"There's nothing to tell. It's probably best we don't bring this up at all."

"HeHe… sure thing, son. Whatever you say."

There was an odd change in his tone there.

"Um... great."

"So can you hang tight for me to come back up there to pick you up?"

"No, Lion's here. I'll be home in a few minutes."

"Cool. Are you sure you're Ok?"

"Yeah. I'll be when I get back."

"Ok I'll see you there. I love you."

I just hung up. I sat there for a minute. The hard part comes next. I I don't wanna be here any longer, but I can't just leave Things as they are. They might not take it too well, but I have to apologize. I'll just get it out of the way, and be done with this.

With that, I stood and turned to Lion. "I'm still not leaving yet, so just go wait for my down by the front door. I'll meet you there."

He made another growling sound.

"No. What if they see You? You have to go down the outside."

He again growled, not moving.

"If you don't go down there, I won't give you the snacks I've hidden."

With a grunt, he got up, walked to the edge, and jumped down. Works every time.

On my way to the door, I heard some banging in the stairwell. This place could use a fixer upper. When I got into the garage, Lydia was playing basketball by herself. They pinned an old backboard to the wall. She was sitting above it and throwing the ball through the hoop hard enough that it would bounce back up to her.

"HIII Stevie!" She said as I got closer. She jumped down with the ball under her feet. She bounced around on the ball like She wasn't there. Her power isn't just floating, but making herself weightless. She walked on the ball, rolling over to me.

"Um, hey Lydia. How are you?"

"I'm good! But N in trouble."

"I'll bet."

We walked… well I walked while she rolled, to the door to their jeweled room.

"I'm sorry about what I said last night. I… I didn't mean it."

"Oh that's ok. I like creepys too. Wanna keep one as pet. But S says no."

"That might be for the best."

"HAHA!"

"But… you don't care? You know. Whether they live or…"

"Hmm nope. Thems mean anyway."

"Oh. I see."

"So you're Leaving, huh?"

"Yes."

"Can we ride the pink bubble before you go?"

"I don't think so Lydia."

"AWWW! I wanted to ride. When you gonna be back?"

"I'm sorry. I don't think I am."

"Hrmph. Spoilsport." She got off the ball and kicked it behind her. I watched as it miraculously made it into the hoop on the far side. She didn't even look. Like she knew it would happen, or was too pouty to care.

I opened the door to the room, and grimaced at the sight of the broken gems on the wall. Arno was sitting on his beanbag fiddling. Nate Sandra were at the grill near the far corner of the room, cooking what I knew were sausages eggs, from the smell. Most likely the chicken apple sausages Nate was so insistent on buying. Man I wish I could stay for those. Sandra was just wearing a tank top and sweatpants. Nathan, he probably didn't change at all. They weren't saying anything to each other. Barely even looking at each other. This didn't feel safe, but hesitantly I walked in. Lydia already sat down waiting for the food. Arno pretended like he wasn't looking at me, but I caught a few of his glances. The walk over to that grill was one of the longest in my life. Come on Steven. Be quick and nice.

"Um, hey… Sandra."

She glanced towards me. "Oh. Good morning, Steven." She responded, going back to the cooking.

Nate just mean mugged at me.

"( _Inhale, Exhale_ ) Look. I just wanna say I'm really, really sorry for what I said last night. You're not like the monsters, and I shouldn't judge any of you for the things you do to survive. I was just... well, I AM going through some personal things, similar things, and I guess I was mostly taking it out on you. And that's not right. So, I'm sorry."

Sandra looked back up, and gave me a sincerely warm smile. "Well, thank you very much for saying that." She waited a bit, then glared at Nate, who was indifferent to all this. She nudged him and got his attention. "N? Don't YOU have something you'd like to say?"

He rolled his eyes up like _"Oh brother"_. "I'm… Sorry too." He said VERY reluctantly. "I should not have yelled at you either. Or attacked you personally, or made you feel responsible for my Very reckless, irresponsible actions."

They obviously practiced this.

He gestured to her like _"You happy?"_ Then she did a _"Keep going"_ back at him.

"( _Groan_ ) I put you in a very bad position by making you lie for me, and that is, Evidently, wrong I apologize thereIdidit." He stopped looking at me and aggressively put food onto a paper plate.

"Well...Thank you, boys. For sharing how you REALLY Feel."

He scoffed at that. Somehow I don't think I'll miss him.

"Yeah. And thank you for letting me stay here. We might not meet again, but I really did like hanging out with you guys."

Nate angrily cut in. "Oh well you coulda fooled me--"

"N!" Sandra cut him off.

He he wanted to say more, but just gave me the _"whatever"_ wave.

"Steven, you don't have to feel like you're intruding. As far as I'm concerned, the jewel makes us family. Families argue, fight, disagree, but that's part of it. They also look out for each other. And be honest with each other. You're welcome back at club Bedrock whenever you want. To just hang out, or talk or something."

"Thanks, Sandra. I appreciate that. But, I don't think that's possible."

"Ok… It's up to you."

"Sure."

There was a long pause there. I should probably leave before it gets too awkward.

"Well, my umm, ride is almost here. I better get going. Goodbye, guys." I turned and started walking to the door.

"BYEE SANDALS!" Lydia yelled.

"Wait." Sandra said. "Breakfast is pretty much done here. You should stay and eat. It's a long drive back to Beach City."

Not for a pink teleporting lion.

"No thanks. I'll be fine. I should get back as soon as possible." I kept walking.

"STEVEN!" She suddenly shouted.

I stopped dead in my tracks just short of The door.

"Stop. Right. there." Her voice was calm, but stiff.

I have never been more afraid of turning around.

"Uhh, I'm sorry. Was there something else you needed?"

"Yeah. There really is. And you need to stay."

"I thought it was my choice."

"That's later. This is now."

"S, what are you doing? The twerp wants to leave, then let him leave."

"SHHHH"

"I- I don't understand."

"Steven, last night, when I said there was no other way to deal with the monsters, not only did you insist there was, but you said You ALWAYS find a way. So you've actually dealt with these things before."

Oh no I did let that slip, huh?

She started walking towards me.

Arno is now paying full attention.

"Um.. I meant in similar ...situations?"

"Nope, No you didn't. Then you said we have no idea why things with stones like ours exist. That tells me that you do. That you know something about these things that we don't. Something that affects all of us, And you're keeping it from us."

She stopped in front of me with her arms crossed. Never dropping her calm, stoic demeanor. Only Garnet has ever scared me like this.

"Wait. It's not like that."

"You remember what I said about honesty? It's like Nate said. We let you in here. We showed you, and we told you, everything. But you kept your life quiet. Withheld stuff that we would actually need to know. And that is totally. Not. Fair."

(...)

"Please. Listen."

"Nu-uh. You listen. If you want us to trust you, This is how it's going down. We're gonna sit down, We're gonna eat breakfast, and YOU are gonna tell us everything you know about these things. No more lying, or dodging, if it has a rock on it, you spill it. And we will not interrupt, or get mad, or ask questions, we won't do anything until you have said all you have to say. Do you understand now?"

She has me cornered. I have nowhere to go, nothing I can do. Explain everything I know with a gem on it? That is basically everything. Everything that would punch a hole in their understanding of themselves. I know what it's like to hear something like that. Ever since I heard what mom did. I know that this should have been told at the right time. Probably with the Crystal Gems. Not like this, with this tension between us. Even so, there's no talking my way out of this. And they deserve to know. I can't worry about what they'll think of me, or themselves. I have to tell them everything. And try to help them understand.

With nothing else to do, I silently walk back to the chairs. Sandra follows. Everyone sits around the tv set, while Sandra passes around plates of sausage and eggs. Nate's has no eggs. We all have our plates, and Sandra sits down. Lydia is already eating, but everyone else is staring intently at me. Waiting for me to speak. Same as me. I'm just staring down at my plate. Trying to relax myself enough to say my first sentence.

 _Take a moment to think of just,_ _Flexibility, love, and trust._ _Take a moment to think of just,_ _Flexibility, love, and trust._

"( _exhale_ ) They aren't stones."

They gave me confused looks.

"Or rocks, or jewels… they're called Gems. And they're not just part of your body. They ARE what we are.

There's this… Really, old race of women, from a world far away, Called The Gems. They have great power, and great technology. Their gemstones are made in the ground. And their bodies are like magic light that comes out of that. Each Gem is made to do specific jobs. Some build things, others fight stuff, and they all live for a real long time. They live to serve the 4 oldest, tallest, and most powerful of all the Gems, The Great Diamond authority. They rule over Homeworld, and send their armies out to colonize other planets. To keep growing their massive empire. But making these colonies, means destroying the life of the planet they go to."

They're hanging onto every word. The looks on their faces, does not surprise me.

"Earth was gonna be another one of their colonies. One of the diamonds, Pink Diamond, brought her army here… like, a few thousand years ago. It was just routine for them. Another planet, more towers… more lives. But, one of Pink Diamond's best soldiers saw the beauty of life on earth. She fell in love with it. She wanted to protect it. Her name was Rose Quartz. And she gathered an army of other Gems who felt the same way, and led a rebellion against the Diamonds army. They called themselves the Crystal Gems. They fought a long war against the Diamonds. After awhile, they were outnumbered. The Diamonds were winning. But Rose made a decision. She… Did something, just one thing, that changed everything. It drove the Diamonds off of earth. She finally won. But, before the Diamonds left, they made one last move. A finishing move that would destroy all of Rose's friends. She managed to protect herself and a few others, but every other Gem on earth was changed. Corrupted. They lost their minds, and turned into monsters. After that, only Rose and three other Crystal Gems were left. Garnet, Amethyst... and Pearl. For the next thousand years, they would spend their time Trying to clean up the Diamond's mess, trap all the corrupted Gems, and just try to live life on Earth. Like a human. Until one day, when she met a human Named Greg. She met a lot of men over the years, but she loved Greg more than any of the others. He played her music, she told him stories, they played games, he made her feel really human for the first time. It was special for her. And she wanted to do something even more special with him; create a human. Have a child. But… She knew that, since her Gem was the only part of her that was real, she'd have to give that to her kid for him to exist. So… I was born, and my mom was gone.( _lifts shirt_ ) This is Rose Quartz. She was the leader of the crystal Gems. And one day... I guess I will be too."

I looked around the room. Waiting for their responses. They just sat and stared. Only Lydia finished her plate. Actually, I'm pretty sure she took Arno's and finished his as well.

"...That's everything."

Now everyone was just looking down. Nate was staring into the palm of his hand.

I guess I need a moment too. I barely hold it together just thinking of that story.

After a bit, Sandra was the first to speak up. "Well... that was about the saddest thing I've ever heard in my life."

I kinda chuckled at how accurate that is.

We had another minute of silence. There's that tension I was talking about. I just wish I'd see some kind of reaction already.

"So…" Lydia said. "we're like, Part alien?"

I nodded my head at her.

"And these…" Nate started. "We, are our mothers?"

That question got to me. But I still nodded.

"This…" Sandra said, with a hand on her head. "This is crazy. This is so…"

"This… Is…" Lydia said, wide-eyed, and standing up. "So… flippin AMAZING!" She screamed with immense glee. Jumping higher than I knew she could.

That's actually not one of the reactions I was expecting.

"( _Dancing_ )Oh yeah! Oh yeah! I'm an alien! Uh-huh! This is awesome! I'm gonna be so cool now! ( _Gasp_ ) I have to tell everyone I know. Hey A! S! N! Wait. You guys are my only friends…. Guess what? I'M AN ALIEN!"

They still did not move.

"OOOH imagine all the crazy alien stuff I can do! Can I read minds? Teleport? ( _Gasp_ ) I can fly." She then ran and jumped toward me yelling. "WEEEE!" But she didn't fly. She just gently floated straight to the floor at my side. Then, just kinda laid there, face-down for a bit. The rest still have not moved.

"Wait. Hold on." Sandra finally said. "You said besides those four, every other Gem on earth was corrupted a thousand years ago. Well, if we're half gem like you, then how could we be as young as we are? Shouldn't we remember all that time?"

That's the one question I've been asking myself.

"I… I don't know. I'm 14, but dad says I look younger. Sometimes I would grow really fast, or turn into a baby if… Well I don't know why I did that. But--"

"B-but my mom has raised me since I was an actual baby. I have baby pictures. We can't have been born around that time. Are you absolutely sure that there have been no Gems on earth in the past 20 or 30 years?"

"Yes. Well, a little. The Crystal Gems have been looking for forever. I… think they would have told me if they found one. Maybe… I- I'm sorry. I don't know. Nothing makes any sense. You shouldn't ev..."

I can't believe I was about to say that.

"...Shouldn't even exist?" She finished.

I tried with everything to hold back my tears. "Look. I…"

Suddenly Lydia put her finger against my forehead. I didn't even notice her get up. She's scrunching her face and making some buzzing sound.

"Wha-what are you…?"

"I am putting you under my mind control." She concentrates harder. "ZZZTZZZTZZZTZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ….. call me master. mmmmaster. mmmmmas-"

"LYDIA WILL YOU SIT THE HELL DOWN SOMEWHERE!!!!?" Nate finally snapped, jumping up.

Everyone was scared out of their shorts.

"yes master." She immediately responded. She just sat right where she is.

"N." Sandra said Quietly. "Please calm down."

"No! Don't tell me to calm down! Are you hearing this crap!?"

"Yeah. I hear it."

"How are you okay with any of this!? We've just been telling ourselves our folks kicked us to the curb, or dropped dead, and that we had these stupid rocks for a reason. Destiny and all that. But then here come this meatball here sayin _'LUCKY YOU! You only killed your moms when you were born!'_ "

"Nate…"

"OOOH, And top that off with a good ol' rousing round of _'Y'all not even s'posed to be here in the first place!'_ isn't that right!?... ( _sigh_ ) Energy aliens. Space colonies. Secret wars. wow. That's the answer we get huh? Y-you know, I don't know why I was expecting more. Like... like that we'd be, you know, A PART of any of this, RIGHT!? But we don't matter one bit in the face of all this. We practically don't even exist at All! We could have gone our whole lives. The world could have freakin ENDED! Just Zapped by the space queens, and we'd be NONE the wiser! Just some stupid kids with rocks and dreams in their heads and you. Ohohooooh, you. Ya little ray of sunshine, You knew that the moment I took off my glove and opened my hand to you! I mean, screw me for thinking you could ever be one of us! It comes built into you; you look down on us. Deem us worthy of your vast knowledge. Nothing but bugs to you! Cause you're the king of this! The god! You run the show, right? You and your alien posse. And we are nothing but little inconveniences to you! A glitch in the matrix! Black marks on YOUR grand epic story! In fact, I bet you knew we were here the whole time! Just bide your time, gather Intel, then report back to HQ to bring your buddies back here snuff us out! Cause we're just the leftovers from your enemies and it's your duty to clean up the mess they made centuries ago! Right? Am I right!?...

(...)

Huh!?

(...)

HUUUUH!?

(...)

ANSWER MEEEEE!!!!"

Sandra yanked him out of my face and threw him to the side.

I stopped trying to hold my tears back a long time ago.

"Nathan! HE! IS A CHILD! you need to go take a break now! Right, now!"

Nathan clenched up hard. Wanting to spew more venom, but out of words. He just turned and stomped to the farthest corner. He punched a hole in the wall, then bumped his head and back against it. He pulled his hood over his head as a tear rolled down his face. He slid down, and dissolved into the wall.

Sandra just stood there with her hands in her hair. I'm still openly crying in my chair. Once she regained herself, she knelt in front of me.

"Steven?"

"...( _Sniff_ ) I never should have come here."

"No." She takes my hands. "No no no. Sweetie I… I'm glad you're here. We needed to hear this."

"I just hurt all of you."

"It isn't your fault. You don't shoot messengers. It's just… ( _sigh_ )."

She stands back up. "All this time. Wondering who we are. I always…. I just thought there'd be more to it. That bad or good, we weren't accidents. But, we are."

She went over to rub Arno's shoulder.

"That's the joke that's been playing out for centuries. We aren't special. We really don't belong."

Of all the things I don't know, what I do know is that they should never think that.

"No." I wiped my tears and put my plate down. "No that's not true. What you are is special."

"I appreciate that hun, but you're born from a hero. By choice. We're born from soldiers of a long dead war, for no reason at all. What's so special about us?"

"I'm not my mom. You're not your moms. It doesn't matter why you were born, who you are makes you special. The things you do."

"What can we do?"

I didn't even think of what to do next. No more secrets? Fine by me. "I'll show you what you can do!" I licked my hand and marched over to Arno. "Arno?"

He looked up at me confused.

"Hold still!" I grabbed his shoulder with my left hand, and pressed the spit on my right hand into the gem on his forehead. He cringed.

"Eww gross!" Lydia exclaimed.

"whoa! Hey! what are you doing?" Sandra asked. "You can't just plant a wet one on somebody like that! What's wrong with--"

"S S S Wait! ...Loooook."

Like I knew, his gem started glowing. And sparkling. And the crack in it started disappearing. He shook his head like he was dizzy.

"What the..." Sandra said.

Even Nate reappeared and looked up.

When the glowing finally stopped and his gem was healed, he still held his head like he had a headache.

"How do you feel?" I asked.

Then… he answered in a faint accent. "Ugh. Funny. I…" His eyes opened wide, and his hand fell.

Sandra gasped.

Lydia's mouth was gaping.

Nate looked in confusion from his corner.

"I… I'm talking." He stood up. "I'm talking! I'm talking guys, I am talking! I can talk again!"

Lydia and Sandra came and hugged him. Laughing.

"Oh my gosh! I can't believe it!"

"Me either!"

"Widdle bro! What's 2 plus 2?"

"4!"

"When's your birthday?"

"Don't know!"

"Where's the key to your tools?"

"IN MY- wait a minute."

They continued laughing.

"Steven!" Arno said to me. "This is impossible! It's solid rock. Nothing could just fix it, but it's like the crack was not even there."

"Yeah. How did you do that?" Sandra followed.

"Magic." I said all cool like. "You guys have way more power than you realize."

I stretched my arm out enough to give Lydia a high five who was out of arm's reach.

"WHOA cool!" She five'd me.

"That's… I have no idea what to say to that."

Sandra said.

"That's awesome, is what it is." Arno added. "So we get more than 2 powers?"

"Yeah! And they're more than just leftovers from soldiers. You can choose to do anything with them. I choose to use them to help my friends!"

Then I made my shield appear on my arm.

"WHAT!?" Arno exclaimed. "We can summon weapons?"

"EEEEEEEE!" Lydia screeched. "It's so pink and pretty!!!"

"Watch this!"

I throw the shield and it bounces around the room until it almost hits the tv set.

"CAREFU- oh." Sandra said, as I make it disappear before impact.

Lydia and Arno clapped and cheered.

"You Don't need to hide, Feel like outcasts, or inferior, because your powers are special. And they let you do special things! How can you expect anyone to love you if you don't even love yourselves?"

"I Love myself!" Lydia shouted.

"I love that myself can talk!" Arno followed.

"YEAH! and hey. Why Don't you guys come back with me to Beach City? The Crystal Gems Can tell you way more than I can. They can teach you about your powers, your Gems, Gem history, fighting, and help you do a lot of great things! What do you guys say? Do you want to leave this place?"

"YEAAAAAH!" Lydia and Arno yelled at the same time.

"We're going to Beach City!"

"This is unbelievable. We're finally gonna learn everything."

The three of us were standing together, bouncy with excitement. Then we all looked to Sandra. They needed her approval above all. Her expression was hard to read.

"Steven…" She said. "Sweetie, I--"

"Tell me..." We hear from the corner, grabbing all our attention. "You're not actually considering this."

"Nate?"

"You think after what you said," He says looking right at me. "What you did, you can show us your alien parlour tricks, and think we'd just follow you home like that?"

"I… I'm sorry. I never wanted you to find out like this."

"( _Scoff_ ) Well now what do you expect? We just drop everything, Go to your alien school, follow your orders, be a _'Crystal Gem'_? Well that ain't how this works. We're not at your beckon call, and your life Don't become ours just 'cause you say so. So why don't you just hit the bricks like you were supposed to 15 minutes ago?"

"Um, hey N?" Arno said. "Are you sure you can speak on this? I mean, maybe if you did different things than lying, stealing and getting mad at everyone, your opinion might mean more."

His bluntness surprised me.

"BITE me, A!"

"Guys!" Sandra cut in.

"...Sorry S." Arno said meekly. "He never likes doing new things. But we can make him, right?"

"Unfortunately, A… He's right."

"What?" Arno and Lydia said, shocked.

"What?" I seconded.

"Steven, this is all really great, but it's just not for us. Everything I have is here in Jersey, and my mom, my shop, and these three need me. Even if I believed Nate could take care of them on his own, which I don't, he clearly doesn't want to. Then What? The two kids just go with you? I don't wanna put that on you. You probably don't have the space to put them up in your house."

"We could work something out."

"Wait." Arno said. "Who said we want his charity? I just want to know more. This is what I have wanted since I got here. You know that!"

"And what do you expect to learn from them? It was hard enough getting a straight answer from him. Those other three Crystal Gems probably got way more secrets between them."

"But I promise you. There won't be any more."

"I can take your word for that, but not them. I don't know them at all."

"You know Pearl. You can trust her."

"I only said like 3 sentences to her. And apparently there's a ton more I Don't know about her. How much more do you know?"

"Lots... well,"

"Exactly. Plus, even if they are willing to tell us everything, who knows what they'd ask for in exchange? Training, missions, full-time commitments, things we just can't deliver on."

"Awww come on, S!" Lydia said next to her. "Don't be such a Spoilsport. We have jewels like Stevie too. They might be nice. Plus, if they can teach me how to fly and make a big space fire sword you gotta gotta GOTTA let me go!"

"No I don't don't don't."

"Sandra, I can't believe this!" Arno said.

"How are we gonna know ANYTHING if we don't even try? There are so much bigger things to discover! Evils to fight! And you just want to turn it away!?"

"You bet your little butt I do. We don't just look for evil to fight whenever we want like some vigilante. We do what we need to, and nothing more."

"You're the one who says we can be better!"

"This is too dangerous!"

"But--"

"ARNO! That's enough! We are not going, and That's the end of this discussion! Understand?"

Arno looked around. Lydia just shrugged her shoulders. Nathan turned his head away. And me? I didn't know what to do. Then Arno closed his eyes and ran out the door. Probably to his room.

I approached Sandra with caution. "Sandra? I don't know any better than you do, but maybe it would be cool, to… take some time, and reconsider the--"

"I said enough!" She snapped back. "( _sigh_ ) I'm sorry Steven. But we can't be Crystal Gems."

She went back to sit in her chair, put her head down, and didn't say another word. No one did.

Man, This is so disappointing. They are too afraid to take a chance and try this out. I don't really blame them. They've been hiding on their own for so long. But It's different now. They're not alone anymore. There are more of them, probably way more out there somewhere, and we're all their friends. But, why does it matter to me? They said no. Heck, I woke up this morning ready to give up. I could have just walked away and forgot about all of this. But I just… Can't. No. I won't. Because that's not who I am. I won't just turn my back on people who need me. And whether they like it or not, they need me. They need us! And if I can't convince them, then the Crystal Gems can.

Now I know what to do.

 **~BR~**

I sat down, ate my now cold plate of sausage and eggs(gonna write down chicken-apple sausage that's really good), said my goodbyes to no response and left. Lion was waiting patiently outside the door to the garage. But for some reason, before I could get on, he kept nudging me and shaking his head. He looks like he has another bug in his hair. Couldn't find it. I told him to just ignore it. So I hopped on his back, he roared out a portal, and ran through it. In a flash we are back in Beach City. Standing in the sand, looking across to the temple and my house. I didn't think I'd miss home this much. The spray of the sea, smell in the air, the feeling of the warm breeze, and the quiet. I know I was only gone for 2 days, but it sure felt way longer.

We walked up to the house together, and I stood outside the door to prepare myself for what was to come. Probably,

•Everyone yelling

•Pearl worrying coddling

•Garnet staring intently

•Amethyst wishing I brought food

•And dad preparing a life lesson

What I need to do is just take it, apologize, and try to break down the stuff dad didn't tell them. ( _INHALE, EXHALE_ ) "Here I go."

I open the door, and the 4 of them are standing around. Either in the middle of talking, or were just waiting for me to come back. Either way, they all stop and turn to me.

"Heyyy guys!" I say with as much charm as I can muster. "How's it going? Nice day, huh?"

"Oh HIII Steven. It certainly is!" Pearl says, a little anxiously. "We were just... Uhh--"

"J-just talkin about you! Hehe" Dad blurted.

"Yes! It has… Been awhile since you've been away for this long without one of us."

"Yeah. What was the last one? That island thing with Lars and Sadie?"

They both look really anxious. Amethyst looks like she's really trying to hide hers, but I'm still waiting for those reactions. Garnet has hers down, though. I may as well just break the ice myself.

"( _sigh_ ) Ok, guys? I know what you're all gonna say. You're all mad I was out. And I'm sorry."

"Oh! Well," Pearl said. "I admit. I you had me very worried when Greg returned without you, but the… Important thing is that you're OK. Besides! We are all interested in hearing about the time you had."

"Um, what?" This is getting weird. Amethyst is tensing up harder.

"You know. Did you… Have fun? See new fascinating things? Make any ...new friends?"

"Uhh, well. I was at Sour Cream's rave and--"

"DIDYOUREALLYMEETANOTHER STEVEN!?!?" Amethyst shouted, jumping right into my face.

"WHAT?"

"Amethyst!"

Then Garnet came up to me. "Greg said that you said you found another Gem hybrid in Jersey, but then said you changed your mind. What is the meaning of this?"

"DAD!"

"I- I'm sorry, son. They're really insisting."

"Don't blame him, Steven. You know you're supposed to come to us about any Gem matters. So was there one or not?"

Now they are all crowded around me. Lion has left my side. Traitor.

"Ok yes. I met another hybrid like me."

"What!?" Pearl said. "How is that possible? Rose Quartz was the last one of her kind on earth. And the only one to EVER have a child."

"Yo!" Amethyst said. This is awesome! Steven and the Stevens back in business!"

"Wait! He's not EXACTLY like me. Not a Rose Quartz, another Gem."

"Oh."

"Now that Really doesn't make sense!"

"What's his name?"

"Well, there's actually 4 of them."

"WHAAAAaaaaaAAA..." Pearl looks like she's about to pass out.

Dad helps her to the couch.

"Steven, why the heck did you tell me there weren't any like 30 minutes ago?"

"Oh. I kinda messed up with them last night, and I just wanted to forget about the whole thing. But I can't do that. They need my help, and I need your help to figure out what to do next. So I'm sorry I didn't get you guys before, but I'm here now."

"Well," Garnet said. "Then tell us what you saw."

"Ok. There's two sorta grown ups, and two kids living at this warehouse. They're called the Bedrock Society. There's Nate, a rude guy with a black gem in his hand. Lydia, a crazy girl with an orange gem in her back. Arno, a smart boy with a green gem in his head. And, OH PEARL! There's Sandra. The cool pink-haired woman from the show. She's got a gem on her shoulder!"

"WHAT!?" Pearl said jumping back up. Then she half fainted down again.

"4 young human gems all in the same place." Garnet said, puzzling. "That's new. Do they know where the Gems come from?"

"Not until I told them earlier. They're orphaned and homeless. Sandra's the only one who has parents. Or at least thought she did."

Amethyst whistled. "That's rough, man. Glad I wasn't the one telling them they're moms are warrior aliens who've been gone for like a bazillion years. HAHAHA… haha… ha… ( _clears throat_ ) inappropes."

"But it still doesn't make sense!" Pearl said. "Every other Gem was either killed, corrupted, or taken off world after the war. We and Rose were the only ones left."

"Do you think you guys missed any?" Dad said.

"Probably." Amethyst said. "But they still would've been corrupted, duh."

"Even if not," Garnet said. "That still doesn't explain what happened to their fathers."

"OOH OOH!" Amethyst said. "I have an idea. Maybe one of the monsters did to a dude, whatever Rose did to Greg to make Steven!"

"Awww, Amethyst!" Dad said, grossed out and covering his eyes. "I don't wanna picture that!"

"Well, Garnet." I cut in. "Is ...whatever that is possible?"

"No. Our bodies aren't like humans. She had to change something inside her to make you happen. I don't think a monster would know how to do that."

"Well, How'd Rose know how to do that anyway?" Amethyst asked. That's a good question.

"Um, Greg?" Pearl said.

"Well she already knew about… all that before we talked about it. I figured she read a book or something."

"Hmmm. There may be a clue. Dad, we need to see that book!"

"NO YOU DON'T!"

"She could have also learned it from another Gem. Or gems. Now this might be a stretch, but the most logical explanation might be that Hybrids were made before, back during the war."

"The war?" Pearl asked.

"But that can't be it." I said. "They're so young."

"Uh, yeah. And YOU got old in in under an hour remember?"

"That's what I said. But Sandra has baby pictures. She's not that old."

"Did ...did you see these pictures?" Pearl said, getting up. "Did she give them to you? Do you have them now?"

"No. Why?"

" ..OH it's nothing! No reason at all! Hahaha!.. ( _muttering_ )she must've been so cute."

"Grrr We're going in circles here!" Amethyst said. "Garnet, whadda we do now?"

"It could clear some things up if we see their exact Gems, and where they were as babies. Steven, you have to bring them to us."

"Oh. Right." Kinda forgot about that for a minute. "I was gonna do that, but they don't want to."

"WHAT?" Pearl said. "Why not?"

"They don't trust us. And they're afraid of what we might do with them. They've always been hiding from people. But that's why I thought I'd bring you guys to them, and try to talk them into it!"

"Oh well why didn't you say so?" Pearl said, enthusiastically. "I'm sure Sandra would trust me if I got to talk to her again. Plus, I don't have to find a payphone again!"

"Uhh, I don't think so, P." Amethyst said. "If it's mystery girl we're talkin about, and her friends with a name like Bedrock Society, they're obviously way too cool for you. I should do the talking."

"Hey. No offense girls," Dad said. "But I think they'd have an easier time trusting a human. I should talk to them."

"Oh yeah. And give em one of your boring dad speeches? That'll totally get em on board."

"Hey. People come for miles for my sage advice, sister."

"Pff. More like RUN for miles away."

"You know what Amethysts?"

"Guys, it's ok!" I cut in. "Remember? We're all going!"

"No one's going." Garnet said.

"WHAT?" We all said, with the same amount of shock.

"If they did not wish to come with you in the first place, then it is not our right to get involved in their lives any further."

"But garnet! They need us."

"Not according to them."

"Garnet it doesn't matter what they want or need." Pearl said. "They might very well not be the only hybrids. If there are others, it's too dangerous for them out there alone. We need to find them, and find out why they exist, whether those Bedrocks like it or not."

"We'll find the answers somehow, but it'll have to be without them."

"But what about their answers?" I said. "They are so much more lost and confused than I am, and they deserve to know everything we can give them."

"Steven, what you're trying to do is very admirable. I'm proud of you. But if they really valued answers over their own safety, they would have come along with you."

Suddenly, a big glowing and ringing sound came from Lion. And out popped Arno from Lion's mane… WHAT THE HECK ARNO POPPED OUT OF LION'S MANE!?!?"

The Gems got their weapons out, while me and Dad just stood by in complete shock. Arno stumbled out of the mane onto the floor, gasping for air, and carrying a string full of some deflated balloons.

"( _BREATHE_ ) I ...( _BREATHE_ ) I am sorry. ( _BREATHE_ ) I ran out of… ( _BREATHE_ ) Balloons."

"A… Arno?"

The Gems quickly put their weapons away.

"Whoa." Arno said, standing up. "You're them aren't you? The Crystal Gems. The heroes!"

"Yes. We are the very same." Pearl said, nervously giggling and waving.

"Wow. You all look so… weird. I mean, not a bad weird, a good weird. Alien weird. I mean not that alien weird is bad weird, it's like a unique kind of weird. The kind of weird that people know is weird, but they aren't afraid of that weird in fact it makes them want to know more about that kind of… um, weirdness… I'm sorry. I'm very nervous. I never meet any aliens."

"Why don't you tell us your name, little one?" Garnet said, kneeling in front of him.

"Oh yeah! I'm Arno." He lifted his headband higher on his head to show his gem. "I'm a Bedrock." He held up the Bedrock hand sign.

"Wow. That is quite a nice Gem you got there, sir. Very rare."

"Hehe. Thanks. Steven just healed it for me."

"That was nice of him. Steven tells us You're a smart boy."

"Uh, yeah. I guess."

"Great!" Amethyst said. "You and pearl here should get along. We got geeks to spare."

"Oh you are Pearl? Friend of S?"

"Uhh, S?"

"Sandra?"

"Oh yes! Good friends. And this is Garnet, and Amethyst. We are pleased to meet you, Arno."

"Pleased to meet you too. This is very exciting."

"AWESOME!" I blurted. "Now that we all have met, Hi I'm Steven we met too, um, how 'bout you tell us why You're here!? And also, how you're here!?"

"Oh. Right. Um, well, I kind of tried to see if you were awake this morning, but I saw you pull your head out of this pink lion. And I got really scared, but then you started talking to it. And then, it was gonna portal you home, until you wanted to come down to apologize. And you did not want us to see it. So I had to run down to the jewel room before you saw I saw it."

So that's what that noise was.

"uh-huh. And you didn't tell the others about Lion, did you?"

"Oh no! No I didn't. I thought I wouldn't see the thing again, but then you said those things about us coming with you. After S said no, I went and blew up some of L's balloons for oxygen and hid in your lion's hair while you were eating. It's very pretty in there, by the way."

"And ...did you leave a note for Sandra?"

"No. She probably doesn't know I'm gone yet."

My cool keeps getting harder and harder to keep.

"But it is OK! We don't have to worry about what she thinks, or the others getting hurt anymore! Because I'm here now, and I am ready to do whatever it takes to earn your teachings. You will see I can handle anything. I can fix stuff for you in exchange, if you want. It'll be great! Right, Steven?"

(...)

"Um, Steven?"

"WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOU!?!?"

"Huh?"

"Do you realize what you've done!? If Sandra finds out I have you she's gonna kill me! And then you!"

"No no no! She doesn't know where you live!"

"Yeah, but she knows where the Big Donut is. I see her plan now. She's gonna wait outside the Donut day and night, just waiting for the inevitable day that I go get a delicious treat. Then she comes around the corner, tackles me to the ground, beats me to a crying pulp, put me in some donut glaze, and bury me in the sand at the beach. No one will discover my tasty preserved body for thousands of years! Oh why Beach City? Why Big Donut? Why Arno? Why have you Forsaken me!?"

Everyone just stared as I tried to sob on the floor.

"Oh Steven." Pearl said. "You're being completely over dramatic. Again."

"This is how I cope."

"The sad thing is," Arno said. "He might not be that wrong."

"It's no biggie, son. You and Lion just take him back, leave before the others see you, and it'll be like it never happened."

"Yes! We can definitely do that!"

"What? No! You're the one that wanted us to come in the first place."

"Yeah. All 4 of you. Not just one of you without permission. Lives are at stake here!"

"I don't care. I need to be here. You are the only ones who can help me figure out where I came from."

"It could take a very long time to figure that out." Garnet said.

"I do not care!"

"Hey Hey Kid. Calm down." Dad said. "Don't you think your friends care about you? You can't just leave them behind the first chance you get. They'll probably give you another chance, but we gotta go about it the right way. Just be a little patient."

"Grrr. You don't know her like I do."

"We'll get a chance for that soon." Garnet said.

"Yeah." Dad said. "But for now, let's get you on that Lion and take you ba--"

( _BEEP BEEP bububoop_ )

( _BEEP BEEP bububoop_ )

My phone rang. It's Connie.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Steven!" Connie said. "Listen, can I borrow Lion for a few hours?"

"Uhh, for what?"

"There's this violin event I need to go to, and my parents can't take me there or back. They're busy all day."

"Um, can't it wait?"

"Unfortunately, no. I'm running late as is, and mom said this is supposed to lead to some potential scholarship option In like, 7 years. If I miss it, she'll be really upset."

"Well… Ok. I'll send him over."

"Great! Thank you so much, Steven. I'll talk to you "

"Don't mention it." I hung up.

"What was that about?"

"Connie needs to take Lion."

"Now?"

"Now."

"Oh..."

We all stood in silence. Then Lion stepped aside, roared a portal, and hopped through.

"Welp," Dad said. "Guess we're going on another road trip! Up to Jersey. Again…"

"Yaaayyyyy" I said with very little energy.

"Yeah, Ok." Arno said. "Or maybe, just hear me out, I could stay--"

( _Simultaneous_ ) "No!"

 **~BR~**

We are about half way through our drive back to Jersey. No one has spoken, and Arno has just been quietly headbanging to all of dad's rock tracks in the back of the van. I'm not gonna lie. Part of me wishes he could stay, at least for a little while. I've always kind of imagined what it would be like to have a brother. I mean, be kinda cool. But I guess that's getting ahead of myself again. I'm not sure what I can be for the Bedrocks at this point. But dad said we have to go about this the right way. I guess that means we shouldn't rush this, and just let whatever happens happen. But they've already waited all their lives. How much longer do they need?

Dad turns off his stereo. "So um, Arno. Where are you from? Cause I can't place your accent."

"Oh. Czechoslovakia."

"Oh. Never heard of that place, but it sounds cool. Is it a nice place?"

"I could not tell. I did not get out much."

"Oh. You were at an orphanage right?"

"Yes."

"And you didn't like it, huh?"

"No. I do not want to talk about it."

"Ok."

A few seconds passed.

"Are you not gonna turn the music back on?"

"Maybe?"

Another few seconds.

"I really don't want to talk about it."

"Arno." I said. "Don't you remember what Sandra said about honesty? If we want to try to be family, or at least trustworthy, this is a good way to start."

Maybe a minute, or two, this time.

"( _SIGH_ )It was awful. They did not care about us, they just wanted us adopted. But the place was full of the last kids that anyone would want to adopt. Troublemakers, disabled, dirty, they called us the Špatně."

"What does that mean?"

"The Wrong."

"Oh. Gosh. I'm sorry to hear that. No wonder you had to leave."

"Yeah."

"But, what made you want to come to the States? Making your way across the world like that, It's dangerous for a kid by himself."

"I didn't care. I had to get out."

"I know, but you could have gone anywhere outside Checky-slava. Errr…"

"Czechoslovakia."

"Choko sala"

"CZECHO… slovakia."

"Cheek ...sokka ...vaka--"

"Checccck…"

"Check."

"US…"

"Us."

"Love…"

"Love."

"AKIA."

Akia."

"Say it back?"

"Check-Us-love-akia. Czechoslovakia!"

"YAY! And no. I had to come here."

"But why? What was the reason for that?"

He started rummaging through his pockets. He picked out something and held it out to us. "Because I have this."

The object was some ring tied to the end of a string. The ring was thick and square-ish, and had these bumps on it. Kinda like a gear. The patterns and colors, were unmistakably Gem.

"Whoa!" I said. "That looks like Gem stuff. Where'd you get that?"

"I have had it for as long as I can remember. I don't know who tied that string, or what it is, or what it goes to, or even when I started wondering these things. It's just always been a part of me. I always knew that one day, it will tell me a great story. Then one day, I finally snuck out and went into the museum I always wanted to see. There was this picture of a place in this country, a building, and it was colored the same as this ring. I haven't found it yet, but I know that if I bring this to it, it can tell me where I came from and why I was born. I do not care what Nathan says. Or you. Or anyone. Those answers mean everything to me. They will prove that… that I am not born Špa--"

Without any warning at all, a huge crash knocked into the van at the side, and we tumbled violently into the dirt.

We are on our side, and I am hanging from my seat belt. My back and arm hurt so bad. Dad is knocked out. I thrash hard, too scared to know what else to do. Something green or blue, splashes around the windows, everything goes dark, and the van is being jerked around hard. I scream for dad. For Arno. For the Gems! Anyone to come help! the glass is breaking. The metal is bending. I fight the seat belt, but I can't get it off. I'm screaming and crying way harder.

Then Arno comes up under me and motions me to calm down. His face is cut. He pulls a small knife out of his pocket, and cuts into the belt. I fall free, and we land on dad. He stirs awake for a bit.

"UGh ...Steve... get..." He trails off again.

Arno points to the back door to the van. I can't get dad out. We shake more, and we crawl out of the doors. I have to stop whatever is doing this to save dad.

We step outside, and look back at the van. There's this enormous blue/green blob with black hard shells covering its body. These tentacles are coming out of everywhere, and some are wrapping around the van. It has a single eye, and a Gem above it. We're being attacked by a giant corrupted Gem on the side of the road, in a big field, totally alone, without the Crystal Gems in sight… This is not my week. It just refuses to be my week.

It looks to the side, knowing We're there. It roars from a big mouth that opens out of nowhere.

"Arno stay back!" I yell as I bring my shield out.

I throw it at the monster, and it brings some shells together. My shield bounces off the shells back to me. It pulls all It's shells together and becomes a big, black, perfectly round, Indiana Jones-ian ball of death.

It rolls past the van, I grab Arno, and jump as far as I can to the side. I tell Arno to go hide, and he runs off back toward the van. The monster opens back up, and throws It's tentacles at me. I make a bubble around me, and it pulls me into it's disappearing mouth. It put, what would be it's lips around my bubble, and It's slimy tongue rubbed it outside. I decide to grow, and spike up my bubble. It jumped back in pain, and I fall, losing the bubble. I'm free, but I think I made it angry. It roars loud and goes for me. I throw my shield at its eye blinding it. It thrashed everywhere, and I weave around its tentacles. Heading back to the van. I just realized I have nothing that can poof this thing. The Gems have no phones. I could call someone else and tell them to get the Gems, but they wouldn't be here for a couple of hours. We're sitting ducks. The best thing to do would be to run home, and I try to defend us as best as I can until then. I can at least get the Gems to meet us halfway.

I look back, and the monster is closing up, readying another roll. It comes full speed. It's going for the van! I jump to the top of it, and make a huge bubble around the van. The ball crashed into us full force. We were both knocked back hard, and I lost the strength to hold the bubble up. But the thing opened and crawled back over to us. Wanting to grab me again. But a rock hit it from behind.

"HEY!" Arno yelled.

It turned around.

"Come on, fatty! Come get me!"

He runs, and I slowly follows on the tentacles underneath it. He dodged as it threw arms his way.

"ARNO!" I summoned whatever strength I could, and jumped far.

Once over the thing's head, I threw my shield at It's arms going for Arno. I land ungracefully between them. I can't keep this up much longer.

"What do we do?" Arno asks.

"I- I don't… We have to try to get back!"

"How do we do that?"

"I'll hold it off, and you get dad out of the van."

"STEVEN!" Dad yelled. He crawled out of the van's back door.

The monster threw its arms and I stopped them with my shield.

"Dad! Are you ok?"

"My leg! Why is it always my leg!?"

I whacked away at every arm trying to grab me.

"Arno go! Now!"

Arno bolted around the monster, but it caught him.

"Arno no!" I throw my shield to free him, then ran after him.

But it caught me, and I'm too weak to fight it off. We are both hoisted into the air in the same tentacle bundle. I can't get my shield or my bubble. This can't be it. It just Can't!

"STEVENNN!"

"DAAAD!"

It opens It's huge mouth.

"Mr Universe!"

"What!?"

"Find Lydia! Agh! Tell her… the key to my tools is in the--"

Suddenly we hear a loud slicing sound and we fall from the monster's grasp. It is scrambling around in pain.

Arno landed right on top of me. I push him off and look around. It's tentacles are sprawled. They poof, and there is a big, Junky Axe embedded in the floor near me. The orange glow of heat fades away from the blade. It… It can't be.

Then, just over the hump of the road, the three remaining Bedrocks come speeding down the hill on their vehicles. Nathan is on his dirt bike, and has a double bladed axe in his hand. Sandra(Great distance for her, by the way) on her motorcycle has a duffle bag strapped to her back. Lydia on her red scooter has a small axe, on fire, and is swinging it around like a madman while howling like a monkey.

They cut onto the grass, and the monster closes up and charges right after them. They curve around it. It turns around, comes back, and they swerve again. They they start circling it. Nate clockwise, the other two counter clockwise. It opens, stands up, and tries attacking with It's arms. But they're too fast. They cut every tentacle that comes their way. It looks like it got Nate, and his bike goes skidding. It looks, but there is nothing in It's arm then I notice a floating axe. It glides between the monsters floor arms, chopping it down. It comes out to my side and Nate appears under it.

Sandra jumps off her motorcycle and the monster grabs her by the arm. She yanks and it struggles against her. Nate is fighting the arms behind it.

"S! Heads up!" He throws his axe, picks up the one that was thrown earlier, and goes back to hacking.

It grabs Sandra's other arm with more tentacles. She does some twists to bind the arms together. Then she kicks off its face, jumps high, catches the axe, and brings it down on all, maybe 12 arms that had her. It screeches in pain.

"L!"

She crouches and brings the axe above her head. Lydia rushes over, runs up her back, bounces off the blade like a springboard, and she buries her small axe into the thing's eye. She climbs up It's face and tears away at it's shells and skin. Picking them off one or 3 at a time, and they evaporate. She is beaming and cackling like a wicked witch the entire time. It grabs her by the ankle and lifts her into the air. This just made her giggle more. She rears back, and spins really fast. Cutting the arm, and helicoptering upside down all the way down It's back. Taking even more shells arms with her. She lands on her feet, and stumbles around dizzy. Nate yanks her away as she's about to be got by another arm. Nathan fights the arms at amazing speeds. Deflect. Slice. Deflect deflect slice deflect.

"S! Throw her a bone, here!"

Sandra pulls the last small axe out of her duffle bag and throws it over the monster. Nate does a back handspring and catches it. He spikes it in the dirt and runs back for some more slicing. "L! If you're gonna jump…"

"Then jump FAR!" She picks up the other small axe, sandwiches the blades between her hands, and ignites them. She takes the handles and runs after Nate.

Nate spikes his axe into the floor, and binds his hands. Lydia steps into his hands, and he throws her high above the monster. But he's grabbed from behind. Lydia turns sideways, and spins at blinding speeds. Slicing into the monster's skin all the way over its body like a saw blade. She falls into Sandra's arms, and she flips her back onto her feet.

Nate is pulling hard against It's arms, but can't reach his axe. Thinking fast, I bring my shield out one more time and throw it at the tentacles. Nate is freed just long enough to grab his axe and slice the rest of his way free.

He gives more chops to the flesh. "This Stupid thing won't die!"

Sandra slices again. It opens wide for another scream. "N! I got it! Down the hatch!"

"Deal!"

She uses her hand and foot to keep Its mouth open, and reaches in for It's tongue. Lydia is blocking all arms with her two axes. Sandra pulls its tongue all the way out of its mouth, picks her axe back up, and pins the tongue to the floor with it.

She takes Lydia's axes. "Are you ready!?"

Nate steps back. "When you are!"

Sandra rears the axes back. "And… NOW!" She throws the fire axes into its mouth.

Nate lunged, bringing the axe down onto its back, and colliding with the other axes perfectly through its flesh. Making a powerful clinking sound.

The monster instantly exploded into a huge cloud of smoke. Not a good thing if you're out of breath like they are. They cough a lot as the smoke clears. And there is only the monster's Gem remaining in a wide shallow crater. It has been defeated. In the most unbelievably awesome way I have ever seen in my entire life. I mean, that wasn't done by the Crystal Gems.

They stand there to catch their breath and soak in the victory for a bit. Sandra eventually drops her duffle bag, and walks toward the van.

Nate walks into the crater and looks at the Gem. He shakes his head at it. And he brings up his axe, and--

"NO! Don't!" I yell, stopping him from bringing it down. "Please. Don't… shatter it."

"Oh my god. What do you want me to do with It then? Bury it in the dirt?"

"No, I…" Wait… No that probably wouldn't work. "Just toss it over here."

He sighed, and knocked it my way like a golf ball.

I caught it, put it in a Gem bubble, and sent it to the basement.

"Oh wow, he teleports things now! That's… That's just great."

"Nathan." Sandra called. "Come help me he's hurt."

"Oh. Yeah!" He ran over to help her help him.

I got up off the floor and went after him.

Dad moaned in pain and they sat him against the van.

"Is it broken?" Sandra asked.

"Ah! Trust me. It is." Dad answered.

"Let me through, please!" I pushed through everyone, and knelt before dad. I licked my hand. "Hold still, dad!" I touched his leg and those sparkly things fluttered around for a second. "Did it work?"

"Gimme a sec." After a sec, he started wiggling his toes. "( _Sigh_ ) Yes. It worked."

"You aren't pretending again are you?"

"Haha! No son. I swear it's good as new. It's just still really sore is all."

"Fat hairy man needs hug!" Lydia said, embracing dad.

"Aww. You read fat hairy man's mind."

"It's Greg universe, right?" Nate asked.

"Yep. You guys gotta be those Bedrocks Steven told me about."

"Yeah." Sandra said. "Nice to meet you."

"It's REALLY nice to meet you! You guys saved my son's life. I owe you big time."

"Oh don't even think about it, hun."

"Hey, wait a minute." I interrupted. "Um, not that I don't appreciate the assist, but, what are you guys even doing here?"

"Whaddaya mean what are we doing here?" Nate answered. "You kidnapped our friend, you R-tard!"

Oh. They found out fast… R-tard?

"W-wait! It's not like that."

"That's not cool, Steven." Sandra said.

"I didn't want him here! At least not without the rest of you guys."

"Oh right. So I guess he just hopped in the back of this bucket of bolts, and made it at least this far without you noticing?"

"I resent that." Dad said.

Both she and Nate are scowling at me.

"Wait guys!" Arno said. "He speaks the truth. This is my fault."

"Whoa!" Sandra said.

"W-what?"

"Oh nothing. Just… the whole way over here I forgot you were talking again."

"...Wow."

"Yeah, Sandra." Nate followed. "Wow. And while you're talking, you can explain yourself."

"Well, I really wanted to come with him, so I snuck into the Mane of his pink lion pet. They were actually on their way to take me back. They had nothing to do with it. I'm sorry guys. And I'm sorry for taking your balloons, Lydia."

They both looked with a combination of surprise and frustration.

"You own a Lion!?" Nate asked me. "...Lions come in pink?"

"Wow. How you think it does that?" Lydia said.

"Maybe it eats a lot of pink stuff." Sandra answered.

"S, I'm pretty sure you don't turn the colors of the stuff you eat."

"That's how flamingos do it."

"...what's a Flaming- O?"

"Wait, what? You don't know what a flamingo is?"

"Should I?"

"Yeah. Everyone else does."

"Right. Like I'm the only one who's never heard of this oddly named… thing. this even real?"

"Yes!"

"Well what's it look like, then?"

"It's a pretty pink birdie with a hooked beak!" Lydia said.

"...You're making that up."

"Dude we're telling you. It's a real animal."

"How does a bird look pink?"

"Because it eats a lot of shrimp. Shrimp is pink."

"Ok, what's a shrimp, now?"

"Are you kidding me!? You call people shrimp all the time!"

"I just thought It's what you call short people! Not a food!"

"It's a fish! Just like you!"

"I resent that!"

"Guys, is this even relevant?" Arno cut in.

"Oh yeah. We're mad." Nate said. "Arno, you're real smart, but this was an incredibly stupid thing to do. What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that I could not stay in that stupid warehouse for a minute longer while the answers I want are right in front of me!"

"Well they're not. Because we are putting this behind us!"

"Sandra, please." I said. "Can't you just give it a chance?"

"He already did, and look what happened! He could have died!"

"I almost die all the time."

"Not my boys."

"You're not my mom, S! You're barely even around enough to pretend you are!"

"I know I'm not, but I'm the only friend you have that cares enough to protect you. Because I love you."

"I dunno, S." Lydia said. "I mean, you're never around, and when you are we only play when you wanna not when we wanna. But N always wants to play and mess with people and let us choose new games no matter what. And he knows how you feel about his stealing and fighting, he'll get busted or hurt or yelled at, but does it anyway because It's the only way he knows to keep us happy. Compared to that, the ways you show you love us kinda sucks."

(...)

Every single one of us are looking at her with equal amounts of astonishment.

"... What?"

"She's the new smart one." Nate says.

"Look." I say. "You say that no matter what, since I have a rock, I'm a Bedrock. That makes us family to you right?"

"Yeah."

"Well if That's the case, you're in my family too. You have a Gem, so you're already a Crystal Gem in my book."

"...Ok?"

"And we Crystal Gems have roughly the same idea the Bedrock Society has. We are honest with each other, and we protect each other. So you may be ok with avoiding us, but we can't leave fellow Crystal Gems behind when they need us. Like it or not, You are stuck with us. So you might as well get to know us while you're at it. And let us get to know you. Because we're Crystal Gems for life, And Bedrock for life!" I held up their hand sign.

She looked completely dumbfounded. She has no idea what to say or do next, but I hope It's the right thing. She looks to my dad.

"Hey don't look at me, sweetheart. He's never gonna change his mind on this. Trust me. Maybe you should just go and talk to the girls, figure out what you both want, and try to compromise. If you still feel like you can't do this, they'll leave you be."

She stopped to think again.

"A, is this really what you want?"

"More than anything."

More pondering.

"L?"

She gave a short giggle and probably the most innocent smile I have seen from her so far.

That's gotta mean yes.

More thinking.

"N?"

Now Nate stopped to think. "( _Scoff_ ) Aliens, aliens, aliens. Ya know this, all of this, is the dumbest, craziest thing, I have ever been involved in in my entire life."

I started to get worried.

"So ...can't really step it up from here, right? I'm with ya no matter how far you go, hun."

Now I'm excited. She's been completely outvoted. This has got to be it. Then in almost a moment of clarity, she finally gives a confident smirk, and looks at me. "Alright, Sandals. Let's go meet your family."

 **End of episode 3**


	4. Hybrid Theory (Revisedrenamed)

**[Revised and Renamed. I like this title better. Don't you?]**

 **Steven Universe:**

 **The Bedrock Society**

 _Episode 4: Hybrid Theory_

Everyone is in my house. The Crystal Gems are kneeling in front of the warp pad, and the Bedrock Society members are kneeling on the floor facing them. Me and Dad are sitting on the couch. It took a few hours to get back after dad called the tow truck. But now we're all finally here, and I am so beyond excited. I really really wanna take a picture. But I'm also really scared. They haven't said a word to each other since we got here. Garnet and Sandra are looking very focused. Pearl is trying to, but she can't stop smiling and making occasional waves at Sandra. Arno looks as nervous as he was the first time. Lydia is bobbing her head to music that Isn't there, and Amethyst is trying to follow along. Nathan is staring right at Garnet, shaking, hanging his mouth open, and his face is the same color as my shirt. I should help him shop for outfits. Colors really pop on him.

Maybe I should get the conversation rolling. But what do I say? Something like _"WELCOME TO BEACH CITY! OVER HERE WE HAVE-"_ no I'm not a tour guide. How about, _"May I offer you a refreshment?"_ No. Not a waiter either. Maybe _"So what do you use to polish your gems?"_ Wait. Three of them don't even have a shower. Why would they polish it? OOH! I know. I'll sing a song! Singing always warms our friends up to us.

But Amethyst is the first to break the silence. "So… What's that smell?"

Nate's face stops being red, and he puts it down in his hand.

"What she means is," Garnet says. "It's nice to meet you all."

"Nice to meet you too." Sandra says.

Pearl waves at her again.

"Yeah I see ya hun. It's great seeing you too." Sandra said, kinda annoyed.

Pearl blushes and sits on her hand.

"So how are you feeling?" Garnet asks.

"HOT!" Nate immediately blurts, hoarsely.

Everyone stares at him curiously.

"( _clears throat_ ) I uuhhh ya know Hot! ( _Giggle_ ) The b- We're on a beach! Beach is hot! Me no like! Don't do hot! Hot beach! Can't do it! … Not today! Hehehe…"

"Ooooookay?" Pearl said. "Well, I'm sure Steven already mentioned this, but we are The Crystal Gems. I'm Pearl."

"I am Garnet."

"Amethyst. And I'll also accept Amy, lil Ace, Purple Shawty, Purple Puma, Sir Grapes a lot, Purple Punk Queen, CHOCOLATE THUNDAAA-"

"Amethyst." Garnet cut her off.

"Fine. Just that last one."

"And we are the Bedrock Society." Sandra takes off her Camo jacket. "Sandra." She holds up their hand sign.

"Arno." He took off the headband, and holds up the sign. "But, we met… before."

Lydia took off her yellow jacket and turned around where she was sitting. "LYDIA!" She holds up the sign above her head.

Nate took off his glove, and held the sign. "Nay-thick. OOF!"

Sandra hits him with her elbow.

"Thick thigh-OW!"

She does it again.

"NATE! Nate. Name's Nate. This is my Stem Gone- uhh Gemstone thing."

"Are you alright?" Pearl asked.

"He's fine." Sandra answered. "We're here to have some questions answered about these Jewels. And Steven Says you guys might know a thing or two."

"We might." Garnet says. "We're here because Steven wants you to be Crystal Gems."

"And while I don't speak for my whole group, I know at least two of us don't wanna do that."

"Well," Nate said. "We'll at least see where this goes."

"Then ask your question." Garnet said. "But I warn. You may be disappointed with the answers."

"Wouldn't be the first time today. Now first--"

"WHEN DO WE GET OUR FIRE SWORDS!?" Lydia interrupts.

"Huh?" Pearl said.

"Y'know? I have been asking that for like centuries." Amethyst.

"Amethyst, you can set your whips on fire."

"FIRE WHIPS!?"

"What Garnet meant was," Pearl cut in. "Your weapons already come from your Gemstones, and we can teach you how to summon them at a later date if you wish. And, you won't choose what it will be."

"Awww."

"Great. Thanks." Sandra says. "Now our REAL first question. Did you know about us before today?"

"No." Garnet said.

"Did you ever consider the possibility of us existing?"

"It was a 100 percent impossibility. But we've been wrong before."

"Is that because all the Gems were wiped out thousands of years ago?"

"Exactly."

"But how do you know it was all of them?"

"We've been hunting the corrupted and any other Gem related disturbances for all that time." Pearl said. "We've been extremely thorough. If there had been another Gem, we'd have found them by now."

"Well ya say that," Nate says. "But, here we are."

"Oh… well, you are all half Gems like Steven. You've been hiding. Full Gems have very different behavior And appearance."

"And what would y'all have done to the Gems if you Did find em?"

The Gems didn't seem to know how to answer that one.

"We would have made them our friends!" I jump in. "Yeah. That's what we do with all the Gems we meet. Right?"

"Yes. Well, except for Bismuth." Pearl says.

"And Jasper." Amethyst says.

"And the Rubies." Garnet says.

My heart is starting to hurt.

"And…"

"OK! OK! OK!" I cut in. "We always TRY to do that!"

"Steven's right." Garnet says. "We don't go everywhere expecting to fight just as I'm sure you don't go expecting to be fought."

"Um, we kinda do, though." Nate says. "That's why we bring a sack of axes when one of us is missing."

"Oh I was curious about that." Pearl says.

"So if you saw our rocks, and thought they looked like ones from way back when, you can honestly tell us you wouldn't attack us for it?" Nate asks.

"Of course not. We would never hold your Gems against you. You're someone else." Garnet says.

"It is just as possible you were our allies as our enemies, anyway."Pearl says.

"And those enemies of yours. The Diamonds. Homeworld." Arno says. "What did they do after they corrupted everyone?"

"They abandoned this colony and went back home." Garnet says. "But…"

"They still come back, Huh?" Sandra says.

"Well, yes. Sometimes. Just some occasional inconveniences. Nothing we can't handle." Pearl says.

"The Diamonds themselves are still unaware of our existence." Garnet says. "They just want to destroy the planet and forget about it. But we've fought off all their attempts."

"I see." Sandra says. "And if one of those Gems ever saw one of us, what would they do?"

"In all likelihood, They would either kill you, or take you back to examine you."

"But now that you have us," I said. "You don't have to worry about that. We can protect you, show you how to fight, give you a better place to live, whatever we can do to keep you guys safe."

"Steven that's up to them." Garnet said.

"Well, we don't want anyone's charity, and we can take care of ourselves." Sandra says.

"And what exactly do you want?"

"We just wanna know where our Gems come from. And since we can't talk to homeworld and you're clueless, isn't there any theory between the three of you?"

"One so far." Garnet said. "But we need more to make it come together."

"In fact," Pearl says. "why don't you come closer so we can see your Gems?"

"Yes. That'll clear some things up."

Nate quickly got close to Garnet and showed her his palm.

She examines it closely. "Hmmm."

"Never seen that one before." Amethyst said.

"You have powers, yes?"

"Yeah. Wall clinging and active camouflage."

"I knew it. This is Onyx."

"Onyx?" Pearl says.

"Who's Onyx?" I ask.

"A very rare, very dangerous Assassin. The Diamonds assign them to only the highest ranking generals. They carry out covert stealth missions to either extract, sabotage, or shatter. They don't lose."

"( _whistle_ ) Wow. I knew I was gangsta, but not that much. Pretty cool being a top tier elite assassin, 'ey G?" He made a weird smiley face at her.

"I've been called a war machine. Now go sit back down."

"( _Clicks Tongue_ ) I dig."

"So you're saying he wasn't on your side?" Sandra says.

"We're saying, he has great power, and a natural talent in fighting."

"OOH! Me! Do me next!" Lydia said, excitedly.

"Now now, Lydia." Pearl said. "It's Sandra's turn, since she's next in the row. You can wait."

"aaaaww."

Sandra got close, and Pearl looked at her shoulder closely.

"Oh yours looks like a pink version of Tourmaline."

"What could she do?"

"Umm, Great things! Really great. Considering your size, she must have been very powerful."

"Pearl be honest with her." Garnet said.

"What do you mean?"

"The Tourmalines were a fairly common Gem. They were easy for Diamonds to make, and could be molded to serve any purpose and fill in the gaps of the armies. From being a small grunt like Amethyst, to a heavy like Me. But they've never been known to have much in the way of power."

"Oh... I see."

"Uh but that role could have been as a high ranking knight!" Pearl said. "Just look at how big you are! And your leadership and speaking skills had to carry over, right?"

"Thanks Pearl."

Sandra went to sit back down.

Arno was next. They examined his head.

"You think he's a Peridot?" Amethyst said. "He's small, green, and smart."

"True," Pearl said. "But her Gem is smooth and angular. This is round and jagged. Plus, he's a child, so he'll grow."

"Kay, so what is it then?"

"He's a Moldavite."

"A what-avite?" Arno and Amethyst ask together.

"A Moldavite," Garnet says. "Is one of the scout types. A very valuable one, too. They were capable of sensing the presence of other Gems, and seeking their exact location."

"Wow, that's cool." Arno says.

"Only a few hundred were ever made, if i'm not mistaken." Pearl says. "We had one on our side, but she and the rest mysteriously disappeared during the war."

"But um… how do I actually do that? The tracking thing."

"We're not entirely sure, but we can figure it out together later."

"Ok." Arno went to sit back down.

"Myturn myturn MY TURN!"

"Yes, Lydia. It is your turn."

She squealed and jumped right into Pearl's lap, with her back to her.

"Uh, maybe not this close, darling. Back up a bit."

Lydia did that. "Show me da money! Show me da money! What's my radical alien origin!?"

Pearl looked at her Gem closely, but she looked more and more confused.

"Everything Ok Pearl?"

I asked.

"Yes. It's just… her Gem is… sticky."

"Ugh. L!" Nate says, grossed out. "You serious? What have you been doin with--"

"No, not like that." Pearl interrupted. "It has a texture to it that i've never seen before. It's almost like some hardened Gel. Garnet?"

Garnet scooted closer to look at the Gem. "Hmmm" She uttered.

"Eeeh, what's up doc?" Lydia asked.

"I don't know exactly what this is. But I have an idea on who it might be. An Amber."

"Amber?" Lydia asked.

"What's an Amber?" I asked.

"Um, we don't really know." Pearl said. "They were a Gem type Pink Diamond was said to have created for a special task back during the war, but we've never seen one up close."

"Rumor had it," Garnet followed. "Ambers were one of the only Gem types exclusively made on earth. Supposedly they were organic. Pink kept it secret how she made them, and why."

"So… you guys don't know anything about me?"

"What are your powers, Lydia?"

"Heating and floating."

"Now we know that."

She sat there and slumped. Clearly disappointed. "( _Sigh_ )Whatever. I guess being mysterious is pretty cool." She sat back where she was and put her jacket back on.

Nate stood up and went to her. "You may be mysterious, But are you Ninja Assassin mysterious?" He started making some weird chopping, jabbing gestures in her face, and she giggled and tried shoving him away.

"Oh my Love, please. Don't play with me in front of the kids."

She said, coyly.

"Aaand ya made it weird." He stopped and sat back down.

All but Garnet giggled too.

"So." I said. "We know who most of them used to be. But how do we figure out how they got here?"

"This actually makes our previous theory come together much more clearly."

"So whatcha got?" Nate said.

"This may take some imagination, so bare with me."

"We have a pretty active imagination, ourselves." Sandra said.

"While Pink was on earth, she did many unspeakable things to make her colony happen. Especially to humans. It's possible for her to have learned how humans reproduce, and wanted to use it to increase her ranks. Since your Gems were very valuable at the time, she must have thought it would be an easier and faster way to make those special Gems. She was known for being rash and temperamental, so she must have not considered the consequences. She must have pared a plethora of Gem subjects with humans, and before she saw the problem, it was too late. You were here, and her best were gone."

The Bedrocks went quiet and stared at each other for a minute.

"That… That's horrible." Sandra finally said. "They used our fathers as test tubes."

"Like I said. It's just a theory."

"So basically," Nate said. "Science experiment gone bad. A'ight. I will take that." He put a hand out to Sandra. "That's $20, S."

She just stared at him with disappointment.

He pulled his arm back. "( _clears throat_ ) Not the time. Yeah."

"Even if this is what really happened, it still doesn't explain how we're here and not the stone age. Or just like, dead."

"Perhaps she found a way to preserve your bodies until she found a way to reverse what happened. But, Her invasion was stopped before she got the chance."

"And now there's a bunch of Bedrocks buried somewhere waiting to be hatched?" Arno asked.

"If they haven't already." Nate added.

"We gotta go find them!" I said, jumping to my feet.

"Hold on Steven." Pearl said. "It could take a very long time to find even one other Hybrid."

"What if we just call 'em all Bedrocks from now on?" Nate said.

"Um, does that really matter?"

"yeah."

They stared at each other for a few seconds.

"Ok. It could take a long time to find another Bedrock." Pearl said, slightly annoyed.

"But I can track them with my Gem, right?" Arno said.

"But we'll need to train you to learn how to use that."

"How long will that take?"

"Depends on you, really. In fact, you will all have to train with us, to prepare for whatever danger we meet in our search. We'll meet every week, at--"

"Wait a sec." Sandra said, interrupting. "We wanna find others, but we can't just drop everything to train here every week. It is way too far."

"Yeah. Is that what you'll do with them if you find 'em too?" Nate asked.

"I don't think we can find a place for a bunch of kids, even if we wanted to."

Dad said.

"Well, what do you think we should do?" Pearl said.

"WE are gonna take 'em with us."

"Well, they may not want to join your little posse, Nathan."

"'Ey this ain't some 'little posse', Ballet Gnome. It's our life."

"Well that's all well and good, but some Hy… Bedrocks might want something better."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"She means safer." Garnet said. "They're vulnerable to the corrupted, and we are the only ones who can protect them."

"There's more to worry about than monsters, Hun." Sandra says. "We need to help them where it really matters."

"And we need to protect you too."

"We already told you, we don't want your charity."

"It's not about charity. It is about keeping Gems alive, and you all are not ready to handle that."

"We don't belong to y'all Just 'cause we're part Gem!"

"OOH, We're yelling now." Lydia said giddily. "YOU LOOK LIKE BRICKS!"

"WAIT!" Me, Arno and Amethyst jumped in before it got ugly.

"You guys are all forgetting." Amethyst said. "They might not want to be Crystal Gems, or Bedrock Society at all. This is still their choice."

"Yeah." Arno says. "And we don't need protection all the time. Sure a monster found us, but they fought it off by themselves!"

"Yeah and that's awesome!" I say. "How 'bout this? They come by to train with their powers when they want to, you can go to their club house when you want, and we think of a time to go searching for other Bedrocks in small groups. And when we find them, we explain what we're about, and let them decide whether they want to come with us or not."

They stopped to think about what we were saying. Then one of them spoke.

"YOU LOOK LIKE A FRUIT!" She said to Amethyst.

"L? L? We're not doing that. We never were." Sandra said. "And Sandal's right."

"I agree." Garnet said.

"By the way," Pearl said. "Why do you call each other by the First letters of your names?"

"Oh" Nate said snickering. "Because big S over here kept forgetting our names when we first met, so she just did that. And it kinda stuck."

Me, Amethyst, Nate, Lydia and Dad started cracking up. Pearl was trying not to.

"Ok, ya know what?" Sandra said, embarrassed. "We're getting off track. So what's the plan, uhh… you? G?"

We couldn't take it.

Now she's even more embarrassed. "Sh-Shut up! You bunch of idiots. See what I deal with?"

Garnet, without warning, summoned her gauntlet and snapped her fingers. It made the loudest sound any snap has ever made.

We all got quiet.

"If we are going to be going between your place and ours regularly, we will need a way to make the commutes easier so that we can coordinate our efforts. Greg can't keep driving back up there with the van."

"Doesn't look like it's driving anywhere for a while. Plus my Dondai doesn't have great mileage."

"You must show me that Dondai." Arno said.

"Rain check kid. Rain check." He says with a wink.

"What about Lion? He can teleport there." I said.

"True," Pearl said. "but as was demonstrated earlier, he won't always be available to do that. Plus, he can't carry everyone."

"So what we need is a fast and easy way that we can keep coming back here." Sandra said.

"Well Sandals ain't have an issue teleporting that rock earlier. Can you do that with us?"

"OH! WAIT! I Don't have to!" I shout as the lightbulb goes on in my head. "We can use the warp pad!"

"Um, the what?"

"Watch this."

I run past the Crystal Gems and hop on the warp pad. I warped myself to the Strawberry Battlefield, grabbed a car tire sized berry, and brought it back for the Bedrocks to see.

"GIANT STRAWBERRY!" I yell, holding it above my head.

"What the heck!?" The Bedrocks said.

"( _Gasp_ ) it looks glorious." Lydia said in total awe.

"Where did you get that?" Arno asked.

"The Strawberry battlefield. This warp pa--"

Lydia just Jumped right next to me. "Gimme Gimme Gimme Gimme please please please!" She said, bobbing up and down.

"Huh?"

"Can I have the big berry please!?"

I looked to The Bedrocks. They all made a "might as well" Gesture at me.

"Um, sure."

She took it and left our sight.

"Anyway, this warp Pad can take us anywhere in the world that another one is at. Why don't we put one at your place?"

Oh Great idea, Steven!" Pearl said. "It won't take long for them to learn how to use it. With a warp pad, we could go between our places at our leisure. It's completely convenient!"

"Hmm. It looks like a good idea." Sandra said. "Sure would save a ton of time."

"If we did this, would you be willing to commit to scheduled training and searching?" Garnet asked.

The Bedrocks, minus Lydia, huddled up and whispered to each other.

Amethyst leaned in and grew her ear to try to listen.

Garnet grabbed her ear and pulled her back.

They soon broke and turned back to us.

"Ok, how's this sound?" Sandra said. "You give us a warp pad, and one of us trains with you every week, two days each. And in between, we look around for any sign of a Berock, you do the same, we tell each other if we find anything…"

"Then we all search together!" Pearl finished.

"Yeah! That sounds like a great plan!" I said.

"Yes. It's the perfect regimen to put beginners on without hurting them."

"However, more time between training means more time to forget lessons." Garnet said.

"Or more time to practice."

"And I'll hang out with them all the time to keep them on track." I said.

"Welp, sounds like a plan to me." Amethyst said.

"Yeah, me too." Arno said.

"Alright. It's a good start." Garnet said.

"Ehh, don't sound too hard." Nate said.

"ALRIGHT! WE'RE DOING THIS!" I said.

Some of us got up, started cheering and yelling "yeah".

"Great! So when do you give them the warp pad?" I asked.

"Huh?" Pearl asked back.

"When are you gonna put the warp pad in their warehouse?"

None of the Crystal Gems answered. They just looked at each other confused.

"Y'all do know how to do that, right?" Nate asked.

"Um…" Pearl said. "Well… what we do is… see we just go and plant… huh."

"We do not." Garnet said.

"Yes, we have no idea how to install a warp pad."

"What?" I asked.

"You're joking, right?" Sandra said. "Don't you guys use these things all the time?"

"Uh, yeah." Amethyst said. "To like, go places. We never had to change them since we got here."

"So there's no one here who knows how to do this. Great. Great Idea, Sandals."

"Ok, why do you keep calling Steven by his shoes?"

"Don't ask. I can't get them to stop. Wait. What about Peridot? Didn't she put the warp pad at the barn?" I asked.

"Oh yes, I forgot! I suppose we could ask her."

"Who's Peridot?" Sandra asks.

"You're about to find out." I ran up to the warp pad. I stood on it and put my fist up. "Come on guys! To the barn!"

Arno came up beside me and did the same. "Yes! To the barn!"

Then we stopped once we notice something on the other side of the room. Lydia was passed out on the floor, covered in a huge leaf and the blood of the ex strawberry I gave her earlier. Everyone else turned to look at her too.

"Um, how long will she be like that?" I ask Arno.

He stopped to think for a moment. Then he put his fist back up. "TO THE BARN… In 37 minutes!"

Perfect timing. because I haven't showered in almost 3 days.

 **~BR~**

It's been 47 minutes. Everyone took the time to eat some lunch, chat some more, I took a shower, we even managed to get Lydia to take one when she came to. After Sandra held her down, Pearl almost threatened her life, Garnet switched places when she heated up, she reminded us non stop that she can't swim, and we aired out the ridiculous amount of steam she made, we finally got to go through the warp pad to the barn. Me, Garnet, Pearl, dad and Arno cam through first. I sat on dad's shoulders to make room. Arno fell from the air on his face like I did my first time.

"Arno, is your Gem Ok?" I asked.

He felt under his headband. "Yes. It takes way more than that to crack it."

We got off the pad, and I got off dad's shoulders.

Amethyst, Sandra, Nate, and Lydia came through shortly after.

Sandra fell onto her back. Nate almost hit the floor too, but caught himself in a superhero landing.

"Yeah. Cat-like, baby." He gloated.

Lydia gently floated and laid onto his back. "Carry me over the threshold, dear."

"Get off me. You're clothes are still sticky." He said, shooing her away like a butterfly.

She floated to the ground, and Nate helped S up.

We showed them to the barn. Lapis was helping Peridot move some new stuff around the outside. Using water to hold up this old plane propellor. It's hard to tell whether their "meep morps" are done or just starting, but they look really cool when they tell me they're finished.

"Ok, a little to the left." Peridot said.

"Your left, or my left?" Lapis asked.

"My left. Always my left."

"I dunno. I kinda like it better going this way."

"But the wind will catch it better if it goes over there."

"But it'll look better if it's more on center."

"And it would look exceedingly better if it actually moves!"

"Why are we putting it on the wall? Won't way more wind catch it if it's on the roof anyway?"

"Nobody will see it at all!"

"I can."

"Because you can fly."

"Oh. Good point."

"Hi Lapis! Hi Peridot!" I said.

"Hey Steven!" Lapis said.

"Steven! Crystal Gems!" Peridot said.

Lapis put down the propellor and they both came to us.

"That chick moving water?" Nate asked.

"Yeah. Awesome, huh?"

"Uhh, sure. If you like getting wet all the time."

"Be nice." Sandra told him.

Peridot ran right up and hugged me tightly. "Steven! Amethyst! It's great to see you!"

"Haha! It's good to see you too."

"whaddup, shawty!" Amethyst said, high fiving Peridot.

"Glad you're here guys." Lapis said. "Um, who are all these people?"

"Oh these are my new friends. He's Nate, he's Arno, She's Lydia, and she's Sandra. They're the Bedrock Society. Bedrock Society, this is Peridot and Lapis Lazuli."

"Nice to meet you." Sandra said, shaking their hands.

"Well you are intriguing. I was unaware humans could make settlements as deep as the bedrock." Peridot said.

"hehe No. We're not actually from there. It's a metaphor."

"Oh I see. For what?"

"For… um… I dunno. But it sounds really sweet."

"They're all half Gem just like me."

The Bedrocks showed their Gems to Lapis and Peridot.

Lapis had a surprised and concerned look on her face.

"Wow! Remarkable! You Crystal Gems sure work fast."

"Um no, Peridot." Pearl said. "We had nothing to do with this. They've been on earth this whole time."

"Well you found them fast enough. But I must admit. In all my catalogues of Gems and their purposes, I've only ever seen a Tourmaline before."

"I've seen them all before." Lapis said. "They're Era 1 Gems. Onyx, Moldavite, Pink Tourmaline, and… uhh…"

"Wait. You've seen an Amber before?" I asked.

"Ye- wait. Um, no. Actually, I- I meant all but one of you. Sorry."

"Oh."

"Pretty Junk." Lydia said.

"What did you say!?"

"No she didn't mean it like that!" Arno said. "She um, likes your decor. We just call our own decor Junk. That's all. Hehe."

"Oh. Well thank you, Lydia."

"Yeah. What a big heaping pile of decor." Amethyst said, chuckling.

"I know exactly what you mean." Peridot said, side-eyeing Amethyst.

"What are you doing with that propellor?" Arno asked.

"Oh we're doing a Morp that reminds us of Andy." Lapis said.

"Who?"

"You know the pilot?"

"I do not know any pilot."

"Don't all you humans know each other?"

"Nah sorry. We ain't exactly grown into our alien telepathic links yet." Nate said.

"Nate."

"What? It was just a joke."

"I've done extensive research on human jokes." Peridot said. "That one wasn't very funny."

"Who asked you, green bean?"

"Nobody. I was just letting you know, white clod."

"What did you call me?"

"Ok N?" Sandra says quickly. "Time to shut up."

"What didn't you get?" Lapis said. "The white part, or the clod part?"

Nate looked at Lapis with a squint. This doesn't look good.

"Y'know, something just occurred to me, blue. You're the one responsible for the whole atlantic ocean disappearing a while back, huh?"

"Really? I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"I thought I got way more than that."

"Hold up. That was you?" Sandra says.

"Wait, hang on. She had a good reason for that." I said.

"I don't care. I'm not sure I trust her to help us here." Nate said.

"Um, do we have a problem here, mr. Nathan?"

"I dunno do we?"

"You should watch what you say. Humans are like 90 percent water, so I think I can throw you into the upper atmosphere."

"Or I could call my drones, clod."

"Hey, I can take both of you. If you know an Onyx, then you know I was a top level fighter in a past life."

"And in this one, you're a mid level loud moth. News flash? Your kind used to bow to mine."

Arno Amethyst, and Lydia all said a big "Oooooh".

"And it doesn't take her memories to Inherit her respect for beings of superior intellect." Peridot said, adjusting her visor.

Another big "Oooooh".

I'm starting to think it was a mistake bringing him here.

Nate just gave them funny looks.

"(Chuckle) These chicks are bad. I kinda like 'em."

I sighed in relief.

"Hmm. I was unaware we were engaging in another bonding ritual. I'll have to log that." Peridot said.

"Wait. Lapis, you can't really move water in humans can you? You were bluffing?" I asked.

"I dunno. I never tried."

"Hey, go back. I'm still stuck on… why did you take the ocean?" Sandra asked.

"Well, I just woke up after a thousand years, and I was really emotional."

"Ah. I know what that's like, hun."

"Hehe, no."

"But enough about us." Peridot said. "What do you need our help with?"

"Well Sandals says you know about Warp Pads." Sandra said.

"Who?"

"Me. Well, my shoes."

"Why would you refer to Steven by his gravity connector guards? That's not his name."

"Oh my god." Sandra muttered, face-palming.

Pearl took over. "Listen. We want to put the Bedrocks through Gem training, but since they live far away, we were hoping you could help us install a warp pad in their home."

"That's all? Well that's easy! As long as you teach the Onyx some manners. I'll make a list right now." Peridot started to go back to the barn.

"Wait. A list of what?" I asked.

"Raw materials. I give you a list, you gather them, I seek some fertile ground, we dig a deep trench, plant the materials, condense them, I monitor the progress, and if we push it, we should have a brand new Warp pad within the century!"

We all left our mouths hanging open.

"What?" She asked.

"Um, Peridot." I said. "As fun as that sounds, I don't think we're gonna live for that long. Isn't there a faster way to get one?"

"Well we usually have tons stocked on homeworld. And take a good supply to any new colony. Certainly all of them couldn't have been used before you stopped this planet's colony."

"Well no," Pearl said. "But we made a point to destroy all the extra warp pads during the rebellion so they wouldn't be used against us."

"That was one of our favorite missions." Garnet said.

"Hmm. Sounds like there were some drawbacks to turning traitor." Peridot said. "You know I hate to say I told you so, bu…"

We all glared at Peridot.

"Uhh so I wont. ( _clears throat_ ) Well then, I suppose the only other option is to do what I did, which was to take an old warp pad from a location you have no need to visit anymore, and have me sync it to your home. Should take a few hours to a day. You won't die by then, will you?"

"Oh. Well that's way easier." I said.

"Wait a sec, Steven. There's a bit more to it. First, getting the warp pad back will be a major issue. You're gonna need two very strong Gems in order to carry it. But Garnet and the Tourmaline seem sufficient."

"I have a name. It's Sandra."

"Very well. Sandra ...the Tourmaline. In addition, getting it back home will present an even bigger challenge. You'd have one of two ways to do that. You can choose a location with a second warp pad within relative close proximity, which is something we rarely consider making. Or you could combine your efforts to make a big bubble around it, and simply teleport it back to your home. Then of course you'd have to walk all the way back, but that should be easier without carrying the thing."

"You said you did this by yourself?" Sandra asked.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Um... nothing."

"Hmm. This is a conundrum." Garnet said.

"Is there any place like that?" I asked.

"There are a few locations that we have no need to visit, but none of them have another warp pad within a walkable distance."

"What about that jungle?" Amethyst said.

"What jungle?" I asked.

"We said places we don't need to visit." Pearl said. "Not one we should never ever visit again."

"What? What is the jungle?"

"It's not important Steven."

"Hey if there is a way to get a warp pad, then that seems pretty important." Nate said.

"We call it the badland jungle." Garnet said. "It's deep in the Amazon rainforest. It was going to be used as a secret outpost by our enemies. They made a kindergarten, a forge, and massive forces they were preparing to use against us. We did everything we could to disable them, but they kept us out from the good stuff. It was almost complete, if not for the Diamonds blasting the planet to corrupt everyone."

"Now the place is chock full of corrupted monsters and deadly traps." Pearl said. "We barely get more than a few kilometers in before getting attacked, so the best we could do was put a fence around it."

"But there are two close Pads in there, right?" Arno asked.

"The point of telling you that was to illustrate that we can't go there." Pearl said.

"But we need to."

"Yeah. I guess we do." Garnet said.

"Ooh. I wanna go! I wanna go!" Lydia shouts.

"Hey, no. I'm with the Gems on this one." Sandra said. "We're supposed to start with basic training. Not diving neck deep straight into an Indiana Jones flick."

"I don't see why not. I do that every other week." I weighed in.

"You've never faced anything like this before." Garnet said.

Hey when it was just the 3 of us the jungle was impossible." Amethyst said. "But now there's like a bunch of us. It wouldn't even take that long. We get the pad, we bubble it, we come back. In and out."

"Yeah that's the spirit!" I said.

"Wait. It's not that simple." Pearl said. "The badlands are too dense and difficult to navigate, and the map we drew up is basic and vague. As if the traps and monsters weren't enough, we could be stuck for days. Searching. Running. Fightling. Dangers untold."

"If you keep talking, L's finna jump outta her skin." Nate says.

Lydia is standing where she is, beaming, trembling, glowing, and muttering "wannago wannago wannago" to herself.

"Just leave it to me." Arno says. "I can find my way out of or into any place. Even if I've never been there before. With just a glance I can finish your map. We would be out of there quick."

"Arno," Sandra says. "Why didn't you say you could do that before?"

"Because I did not think It was a gem power until today. I just assumed everyone could."

"Well, if we gotta camp anyway, I'm coming with my gear." Dad said. "No way am I leaving my son alone for a 3rd time this week."

"Well, if we're all in agreement…" Garnet said.

"Wait. Me Pearl and N didn't agree to this." Sandra said.

"Not yet." Garnet said.

"This looks crazy dangerous, and I don't want the kids to go through that."

"Sandra, neither do I." Pearl said. "But if we're being honest, we haven't a lot of options here. Besides. Everyone here seems perfectly capable of handling themselves. Especially Steven. And we can always count on Garnet's future vision to foresee any oncoming threat. So if this is what the rest of you want, then we'll do it."

"Um, well… I know N don't wanna go. And no way am I leaving him alone."

"Yeah…" N said with a cringe. "I kinda do though."

"Huh?" Sandra said.

I second that. "Huh?"

"Look S. The sooner we get this warp pad business over with, the better. And I don't wanna have to have this same conversation for the next couple of weeks just to be difficult. So just go with it. Some boobie traps and buzzards don't sound so tough. Anything comes our way? We waste it, babe." Nate held up his gloved hand expecting a shake.

Sandra stared for a few seconds. "( _sigh_ ) Big scary jungle it is." She said, clasping his hand, sliding away, and fist bumping. "But we need a plan."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Lydia just screams and flips around everywhere like a maniac. Scortching the ground wherever she lands. "JUNGLE FUN! JUNGLE FUN! JUNGLE FUN! JUNGLE FUN!"

"Well at least one of us is in high spirits." Garnet says.

"Yeah, she might not make it back." Nate says. "By the way, what was that about future vision? You're like some kind of psychic?"

"Basically."

"Ah. Cool. So how much of this day did you see coming?"

"Eh, most of it."

"Oh… huh."

"Keep your hands to yourself during the trip, by the way."

"Fair enough."

"Alright, Bedrocks!" I said. "We are getting you guys a warp pad! Now it may get very hot, and muddy and itchy, and some of us could get thrown into a tree, but have no fear. This is what the Crystal Gems do best. And with all eleven of us working together--"

"Wait. Eleven?" Peridot interrupted. "Where'd you get that from? I'm not going."

"Yeah, neither am I." Lapis said.

"Call us when you get back."

Lapis and Peridot went back to the barn.

"Um… ok." I continued. "Then, with all 9 of us working together, We will be unstoppable!"

"YEAH!" Everyone shouted together.

 **~BR~**

We went back to my house and made a plan. One warp pad is at the edge of the jungle, and the other is deep in the center at the kindergarten. Garnet said we should start there, bubble that one back here, and make our way to the outside as fast as we can. Which they've never had to do before. But after a quick peek through both pads with Pearl, Arno drew up a clear route on her map that would get us out in less than a day. He's the navigator. Garnet will watch for traps, and she and Pearl will take care of them. Me Nate and Sandra are on monster duty, Dad and Amethyst are carrying the gear, and we all will knda pitch in to make sure Lydia doesn't wander off. We figured it would be better to go in the morning after we're all rested. So Dad and the Bedrocks spent the night in my house. Well, Nate slept in Amethysts room in the temple, because it's the only room that smelt like him. Also, Garnet was very specific about this not being a slumber party. Rain check, Steven. Rain check.

 **End of episode 4**


	5. The Scavengers (revised)

**Steven universe:**

 **The Bedrock Society**

 _Episode 5: the Scavengers_

Morning came. We ate, we got ready, we got packed, and it was time to head out. Into the dangerous unknown, of the Badland Jungle. This would be just another mission on any other day, but this time we're bringing a group of Gem hybrids like me. And I have to make sure nothing bad happens to any of them, or we may never do anything like this together again. This is make or break time. So I packed all my bug spray.

The first group of Pearl, Garnet and Arno got on the warp pad.

"It is beautiful there, guys." Arno said. "I cannot wait for you to see it."

"See ya on the other side, hun." Sandra said.

They warped away.

Dad kinda looked sweaty. He may be having second thoughts.

"Are you ok?" I asked him.

"Yeah, son. It's just I… I still don't think I'm quite cut out for this. I can patch some holes and synch some sounds, but the whole monster busting thing? I dunno."

"What? Of course you're cut out for this. You got the cool gear, the jokes, the wisdom, you're the best dad ever. And this is just another hiking trip."

"Yeah, this is gonna be wicked!" Lydia says. "The only bad thing that could happen is when you get stuck in a rope trap thing and hang by your leg and we gotta cut you down, or you step on a bear trap and we gotta cut you LEG off, or you step on an old land mine that blows you to bits, or a big bear with rabies comes and eats you alive, or some weird poison gets on you slowly eats your guts and melts your flesh and leaves a big haired skull for a face and you'd have to suck all the venom out of your blood before it's too-OW!"

Nate thumped her in the back of the head.

Dad is really sweaty now. So am I.

"Hehe. I mean… that's all in

movies." Lydia said nervously.

"Look." Sandra said. "We're all scared. But no one's forcing you to come, dude. I can take your bag if you're not up to it."

Dad looked at me.

"( _Inhale_ ) No. I'm going for my son. If he's going into that trouble I need to make sure he's ok. I got this."

"Yeah, you tell 'em Greg U!" Amethyst said. "Now let's rock and roll!"

"YIPPIE!" Lydia said skipping next to dad and Amethyst as they walked to the pad. She sang to herself. "Rock around the clock tonight! We gonna rock rock rock until the broad daylight! We gonna rock go rock arrrround the clock, tonight!" She hopped around on the warp pad, then Amethyst held her down.

"Hold still, sparky. Don't want you falling into warp space. Catch ya later Steven!"

Amethyst warped them away.

I turn to Nate and Sandra. "Ok guys, here's a plan that should get us through the day. We see a corrupted come, I block it, then Sandra pins it down. and Nate, you do a sneak attack and poof--"

"Don't tell me what to do and stay out of my way." He says, walking right by me and standing on the warp pad.

That was so ru… Oh who am I kidding?

I looked at Sandra, and she just shrugs as we walk onto the warp pad. I just hope some of us can stay on the same page long enough to at least make it out of the jungle with our Gems intact. I warp us out, and we're all gone at about 9:47.

 **~BR~**

We get to the Jungle, and I can already feel how much more humid it is. The walls of the trench we're in are lined with the unmistakable holes Gems were born from. This kindergarten is a lot smaller than the other one Amethyst came from. Vines and moss are growing around the walls and leftover drills. The sun beat down right on top of us. And it's strangely quiet.

We stepped off the warp pad. Garnet started digging around the edges of it.

"Whew!" Nate said. "This is just great. The one place that could get hotter." He took off his jacket and put it in dad's pack. Only wearing that skull shirt again. "And I totally see that beauty, geek. The dark flat trench and the ominous man shaped holes in the walls. It's a freakin wonderland."

"Jesus, Nate. Shut up." Sandra said, Putting her's and Arno's jackets in Amethyst's bag. "Swear to god if you complain this whole trip, I'm leaving you to to the first apex predator we see."

"Well bring it on. Only D-pecs or above scare me."

"No, I… ( _sigh_ ) I won't even dignify that with a response."

"It looks better past this trench. Trust me." Arno said.

"I don't care how it looks. I'm here to Bash some heads. Where are them monsters y'all were so scared of?"

"That's what we're supposed to avoid here, dingus. So keep an eye out for… Hey, where's L?"

I just noticed she was gone myself.

"In a hole." Amethyst said.

"HEY A! AND PURPLE A!" Lydia yelled from a hole really high up. "Get up here and let's have Garnet play a big whack-a-mole!"

"( _groan_ ) Why didn't you stop her?" Sandra said to Amethyst.

"'Cause it was funny." Amethyst said. Then she started climbing the holes in her direction.

"You are going up there to get her down and not play with her, right?" Sandra said with her arms crossed.

"Uh ...Duh! Haha!" Amethyst said back. "What do I look like? Some irresponsible ...fun kid?" She continued climbing.

"Sandra. Come help me." Garnet said. She dug low enough to be able to grip the bottom of the warp pad on either side.

Sandra came over and grabbed the edge of the warp pad. She and Garnet strained hard to pick it up. Seconds ticked by, and it didn't budge. More seconds, and nothing.

"It's not coming!" Sandra said, straining.

"It will." Garnet said back.

Garnet is the strongest person I know. She can crush these warp pads with her bare hands. But she can't pull one out of the ground? With someone who can push around a monster bigger than a car? What is with these warp pads? It still didn't budge.

"I'm ...not… Strong enough!"

"Yes you are, Sandra. Push it."

They tried even harder.

Amethyst came down with Lydia, then all the Bedrocks started chanting.

"PUSH IT! PUSH IT! PUSH IT! PUSH IT!"

Sandra started biting hard on her hair. Her veins started popping. Me and Amethyst started chanting too. They lifted harder, and harder, then after a couple more, the ground finally started moving up with the warp pad. Like it didn't want to let the pad go.

"Keep going!" Garnet shouted.

With a primal scream, they gave it one more big heave, and the warp pad flew up out of the ground, making dirt fly everywhere, and a big white energy wave burst out from it. The two held the pad over their heads, and now I see why it was so hard to get. It wasn't just a big flat stone, but there was a big long crystal coming out from the bottom. Garnet and Sandra are the 2 tallest here, and even with their arms stretched all the way up, the tip of the crystal is barely an inch off the floor.

But Sandra was still happy though. She smiled big and wide with the pad above her head. Everyone else here cheered and clapped for her.

"Good job." Garnet said. "Pearl! Amethyst!"

The two of them went over, and took the pad from Sandra. They turned it sideways and held it together.

As Sandra walked back, she massaged her own arms like they were sore.

"That was amazing Sandra!" I told her.

"Yeah… Really shoulda stretched first." She said back.

"Man, you like the She-Hulk, or something." Nate said, giving her a stiff pat on the back.

She made an honestly cute whimper of pain as she went down to a knee.

Nate just stood with his hand up. "Oops." He said.

She stood back up, didn't even look at him, and punched him in the arm hard enough to knock him over.

Now he made a cute whimper of pain.

"Alright everyone." Garnet said. The Crystal Gems already made the bubble around the warp pad. "This is it. From this point on, there's no turning back. So If anyone has second thoughts…"

No one answered.

"You know," Nate said. "It would have been cool to ask that before you plucked it out of the ground."

"Oh." Garnet said. "I guess it would have."

She taped the top of the bubble and sent it home.

"Ok, everyone!" Pearl said. "You all know your positions, so stick to them, and we will win the day!"

"Let's get moving." Garnet said.

Garnet grabbed my dad, and the Crystal Gems jumped out of the trench. I was gonna follow them, but I wanted to make sure the Bedrocks get out alright. They all moved towards the wall, and S clasped her hands like she did at the bridge. Lydia put her foot in Sandra's hands, and she threw her all the way up over the top of the trench. Nathan climbed a bit up the side of the wall, and crouched just above Sandra's head. She threw Arno up next. I think I heard L catch him above.

"Can I try next?" I asked.

"Can't you like, super jump or something?" Nate asked.

"Yeah. But this looks really fun."

"Hehe knock yourself out, Sandals." Sandra said.

"( _Sigh_ ) Sandals won't phase out, huh?"

"You're a Bedrock, hun. It's what we do. Besides, I thought you liked it."

"No, I kinda do. But… I guess I'm still kinda sour from the way he started using it."

"I can always bring _'Beach ball'_ back."

"What he means is, while you two didn't exactly start on the right foot…"

"Pff. I'm still looking for that foot."

"hush, N. It's what makes you unique. Now you can choose to call it a badge of honor. You know?"

"Wel, if you say so." I said, climbing into her hands.

She pushes hard against my foot, I resist the urge to float myself, and just let myself fly freely. It feels nice. Just falling, up and down, my weight going away, the wind going cool and breezy, the lush greenery moving all around me, the big red things with mean yellow eyes moving around the branches… Wait what?

I was shocked back when Garnet caught me.

"You ok?" She asked.

"Uhh, yeah." Did anyone else see that?

"You gotta pay attention when you're falling, bud." Dad said.

"Um, yeah ok."

I start inspecting the trees. The ones around us have a bunch of red flowers with yellow at the centers. Things look weird while moving, so I guess that's what I saw, but I swear I saw way more red up there.

"Kay, so which way outta here, lil A?" Amethyst asked Arno.

"Yes." Arno pulled his map out. "So I looked through both warp pad locations, and I guessed from the sun's placement at the time, the shadows on the floor, the difference in elevation, moisture…"

He kept talking, and I just kept looking at the trees. Those flowers are kinda creeping me out.

Nathan just pulled Sandra up the side of the trench.

"Sup with you, dude?" Sandra asked.

"Oh um, nothing I guess. Just looking at those red flowers in the trees. I've never seen them before."

"Huh. Neither have I. And I have catalogues of every flower there is."

"Oh. Well if you want, I can go pick them so you can take them back home."

"Actually I don't think you should touch those."

"Why?"

"Well, see how they're arranged? They're all spread out and clumped in perfect groups of six, instead of being really random. And they're all in perfect bloom. None are just sprouting, none are wilting, there isn't even a single one on the floor. And the pedals are a bit to long and stiff to even be flower pedals."

For some reason, Nate started snickering.

"So, you think they're dangerous?" I asked.

"Probably some kind of fly trap. Most likely poisonous. But, we should be fine as long as we stay down here and don't…"

Lydia just climbed into a tree. Uh oh.

"HEE HEE HA HA! SPIDER MONKEY IS KING!" She screams, hanging upside down on a branch.

"Oh my god. L! Honey! Come down, please!"

"But the flowers are pretty! They look like me! I want one!"

Arno wraps up with the Crystal Gems.

"So basically, if we just keep true northeast, we will be back home just in time for din--"

"Hold that thought." Garnet said. "You must get her down right now." She says to us.

Oh crap she saw something happen.

"Lydia Get away from there hurry!" I said.

"I wanna flower!"

"I'll buy you one, idiot! Get yo butt outta that tree!" Nate said.

"climb down!" Pearl says.

She stands on the branch and reaches for the flowers.

"Don't touch those!" Sandra says.

"Imma touch em!" She can't reach.

"Don't do it!" Amethyst says.

"Imma do it!" She hops for one. Barely misses.

"Don't even think about it!" Nate says.

"Imma thinkin about it!" She crouches for a real big jump.

"GET DOWN NOW!" we all screamed at the same time.

"Oh freakin right! Stop yelling at me!" She screams, thrashing around on the branch. "Sheesh."

We all do a collective sigh of relief.

Lydia hops off the branch, then all of a sudden all six flowers above her head stretch down grab her and yank her back up and she disappears into the green with a big "WEEEEEEE".

"LYDIA NO!!!" Me and Sandra both scream.

But before we even got to no, Nathan grabbed a big one of their axes, and runs up the tree like lightning.

The rest of us equip our weapons and were about to jump into the tree, when bunches of the red flowers started jumping from the trees all around us. They were like red dog sized spiders with bean like bodies and big crab claws for beaks.

"It's the corrupted!" Pearl exclaims.

The Crystal Gems form up around Arno and start whacking away at flower crabs. I rush over to Dad and throw my shield at one just about to bite him. I stand in front of him and smack anything that gets close. Sandra is hacking and poofing like it's fruit ninja.

"Steven you gotta get up in that tree!" Sandra says.

I almost forgot L and N were up there.

"Protect dad!"

I ran over to her, she spiked her ax down, bound her hands, and I planted my foot into them. She heaves me up, and I soar into the trees. I bring my bubble out to bounce crabs away.

I see where they are, and I put the bubble away to float myself onto a branch. There are two crabs between two trees, and they are fighting each other trying to pull Lydia to either side. Her face is straining and she's grunting hard. Smoke is coming off her skin, but the heat isn't working on them. Nate is fighting a couple more a bit lower. He's got one pinned to a tree, and one on his axe he's trying to shake off by hitting it against the one on his back biting his head.

I figured if I throw my shield at one of the ones with Lydia, they'd both drop her and she'd fall. Nate is in the most immediate danger. I throw my shield at the one on his head, and bring it back at the one on his axe. He shoves the top of the axe into the tree one's neck poofing it, spins around to poof the one behind him, and grabs the one under him. He grabbed one set of legs and attached the other set to his branch. Making a living rope. He jumped high, swung around, and launched himself into the crab holding L's left arm. Letting the axe fall, he drills both feet into it and the 3 of them go flying up. The one to Lydia's right lets her go.

In mid air, Nate tries to pull the crab holding L up, but it loses grip on her just as he swipes at her arm. She falls down. She floats herself, but the one that let go earlier is about to make a jump for her. I immediately jump for her. Then so does the crab.

I grab her around the waist just as the crab digs its flower claws into my shirt. That doesn't hurt nearly as much as Lydia's scalding skin. It's like how my foot burned when I stabbed DO NOT LET YOUR MIND GO THERE RIGHT NOW, STEVEN!

We crash into the next tree, and it catches fire immediately from Lydia. I struggle with the crab on my back on this branch we're on. Trying to keep it from biting on my head. Lydia comes to try to pull it off, then we both shove it into the fire behind us. I burn my hands, it screeches in pain, then she throws it all the way to the neighboring tree like a fire baseball.

"BOOYA!" She cheers. "And the crowd goes wild! Go Lydi! Go Stevie! Go Lydi! Go Stev-WHAH!"

her celebration is cut off, because the fire burned through our branch. We start falling, start panicking, then we start floating. She continues to scream like a madman, like she doesn't know we're falling at a snail's pace, but I know for a fact she does. After a few more seconds of that, she looks down and acts like she just noticed.

"Oh." She says. "Right. Now where was I? Oh yeah." She does her cabbage patch again. "Go Stevie! Go Lydi! Go--"

"CATCH ME YA FREAKIN MORONS!" Nate freefalls right between us, and we catch him around the shoulders.

"What happened?" I ask him.

"Oh there are like, way more up there."

Not anymore. 'Cause a bunch of burning leaves and branches start falling around us, and so are the flower crabs.

"OW!"

Nate headbutt Lydia.

"You ever move more than five feet from me on this trip I'll end yo LIFE, fam!"

"Fine! Jeez."

"You really need to work on how you talk to people when you save them." I tell him.

"Shut up!"

We finally land, he picks up the axe he dropped, she grabs a big flaming branch, I equip my shield, and we swing at the crabs. Trying to make our way to the others. Some of them are on fire but coming anyway. At some point, Nate grabs one by the legs, twirls it around, bounces it off my shield, and Lydia breaks her branch hitting a home run with it.

We finally get back to the others, and these things are still coming from everywhere. Even dad and Arno have grabbed some small axes to defend themselves.

"Steven your face!" Dad yells.

I just assume I'm bleeding. "It's just a scratch! I'm fine!"

"Just a scratch!?"

"Steven!" Garnet said. "We have to put the fire out! thunderclap!"

Ooh! I forgot. This was a trick we did once just screwing around in training. I wanted to see what happened if we high fived my shield to her gauntlets. Blew our campfire out, and made a big dust cloud from the sand.

I nod to Garnet and rush over, knocking away crabs. I leap with my shield out in front of me, and Garnet clubs both Gauntlets into it. The shockwave went out hard, and blew the fires out in seconds. The sound also made the flower crabs dizzy, and their bodies started glitching.

"Nathan! Amethyst! Take them out!" Garnet said.

Amethyst quickly started Sonic-the-Hedgehog rolling over all of them, and Nate sprinted with his axe to mow them down.

They finished and met eye to eye in the middle. Both out of breath. We did it. We beat them all.

Lydia starts clapping and cheering. "Bravo! Great show everybody! We'll be here all week! Try the veal! Hahahaha!"

"( _Breathe_ ) I thought…( _Breathe_ ) you chicks…( _Breathe_ ) didn't have lungs." Nate said, hunched in front of Amethyst.

"( _Breathe_ ) We don't. ( _Breathe_ ) Panting… ( _Breathe_ ) feels really good right now." Amethyst said back.

They both chuckled.

Then Nate started looking around confused. "Yo, where's the rocks?"

"Huh?"

"these things always leave their rocks behind when we kill em. Where are they?"

The rest of us looked for them too. There aren't any gems left at all.

"Aw crud. There's a mother." Amethyst said.

"Huh?" All the bedrocks said.

"Some corrupted gems are able to make small replicants of themselves to serve them." Garnet said. "We call them mothers."

"So, there's a bigger one of those?" Sandra said.

"By how many there are, much much bigger. And close by."

"So we should totally run, huh?"

"Yup!" Amethyst said.

"Northeast!" Arno said.

Then we all took off. Following close behind Garnet Pearl and Arno. We get a bit of a distance from where we were, Then Garnet yells, "Don't step there!" then long jumps.

Pearl carries Arno on her jump.

Nate says "What!?" Then the floor opens up, and he falls. "Woah!"

The rest of us stop right before the hole. Nate managed to cling his feet to the wall, and he's sticking out like a plank. There are huge spikes right under him.

"Really? Spike trap? Come on that is so cliche!"

Sandra pulls him back up. "What are you giving the forest notes on how to kill you right?"

The other 3 are waiting for us. We move around the hole and keep on running.

 **~BR~**

After running for five straight minutes, we stop by a fallen tree and an old wailing stone. We all but the Crystal Gems are hot and tired. My skin is burning from all this exercise. We take five, and drink from our water cantines.

"Steven. Are you sure you're alright?" Dad asks.

"Yeah I'll be fine. Just need to catch my breath."

But now that I think of it, I thought if I relax I'd cool down, but my body just keeps getting hotter. It's really starting to sting. Gosh I have never been this sore. I drink way more water than I should. I try to wipe sweat off my head, but my hand and my head sting really bad from the touch. I look down at my hand and... I almost Throw up.

My skin. It has never looked like this before. Wha… what happened? It's all black and slimy and shredded. I can see under it. My skin is half gone, and I can see under it. And it goes all the way up left arm to my shoulder. I can see what's under my skin. My blackened skin. My shirt is torn and burned off my shoulder. Is it on my face too? I touch my cheek and( _pained moan_ ) it stung way worse! The sting is way worse everywhere! I'm not touching anything but my whole body is burning like it's never burned before! ( _pained whine_ ) The burn is way deeper than skin! I feel it in my bones! It hurts so freaking bad! It hurts so freaking bad! ( _wails of immense pain)_

"Steven. Son!"

"Woah Woah! Kid!"

I'm on the floor and it is so so much worse! Dad touching me makes it so much more worse! My body, my voice Everything is screaming!

"Stevie? Are… are you okay?"

"Steven! What's wrong with him!?"

"Oh no. He's suffered third degree burns."

"Holy crap! I thought that was mud! Garnet!"

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't see him being injured this badly."

"Hey hang in there big guy!"

"Look at me, baby! Look in my eyes! You're gonna be alright!"

I can't think of anything to do but scream and cry!

"What do we do? Where's the first aid kit?"

"He healed my head, can he not heal himself?"

"We don't know! He's never had to!"

"It's ok! I can patch him up!"

"It won't matter, Greg. It's too severe. With one of us wounded, we'd never make it out of here. He must heal himself. It's the only way."

"But what if it doesn't work!?"

"It will. Trust me."

"Son. Look at me. Look at me. It's gonna be alright. You gotta heal yourself, okay buddy? Just lick your hand and touch your face. Just like my leg. Just relax and you can do this."

I'm shaking. Trying to stop screaming. Trying to concentrate. I try to lick my hand, and the sting is still so sharp. Just ignore it Steven. Just push through it. I rub the spit on my face as gently as I can. It is still the worst pain! Make it stop! Gosh make it stop!

"It didn't work! Why didn't it work?"

"I-I don't know! It was supposed to work!"

"No no no come on Steven! Please!"

I try it again and It doesn't work! "MOMMY PLEASE MAKE IT STOP!"

"Ohmygosh Ohmygosh Ohmygosh I killed him I killed him I killed him!"

"Stop it Lydia! He's not dying he's in a lot of pain!"

"Why isn't it working Garnet!?"

"It should be working! There's no future with him like this!"

"Well maybe you're wrong!"

"Shut up! I know what I need to do."

Suddenly two large objects wrap the sides of my face and I scream so much louder! This burning pain! This nonstop burning! I want it to go away!

Then, slowly, it… It does. This burning stinging sensation. It was replaced by something else. A coldness. A numbness. This chill running through my whole body. Like i'm stuck. And lost. And alone.

"Steven."

I open my eyes. And I only see one in front of me. Big, and purple. Beyond this eye, nothing exists. Nothing but the cold.

"Just breathe."

I do what I'm told. I breathe in, and breathe out. The cold fog of my breath goes up as I close my eyes again. It's dark. Empty. Cold. So cold. I shiver.

"Focus. Find it. What you want."

I start moving. The cold and the dark are still. They fall behind. But beyond that is the heat. That constant stinging heat. It moves so violently and quickly. Pushing me on all sides. Too hard to fight. The pain comes back. I grimace. My whole body tightens up.

"Take a moment to think of just…"

I let myself go loose and let go. Drifting through the heat like wind. I can feel myself heading back into the cold.

"Flexibility…"

I hear something in that coldness now. A voice. A doubting voice. It says I deserve this. Better me than the ones I brought here. Than the one I took from here. I try to leave it behind.

"Love…"

The heat pushes back hard. I see images come at me. Fast, but lasting. All the things that make me mad. Or sad. The things and people I try so hard to change. That I run from. I try to leave that behind.

"And trust."

And there. Right between them.The love. The warmth. My family, friends and my home. Who needs me. Who I need. It feels like lion's mane. But better. I can breathe. I can live. This is where I belong. This is where I want to be. Suddenly this feeling just washes over me like rain. It makes me feel like I'm floating. Higher and higher.

Next thing I know, I'm sitting up fast gasping for air. I check my whole face and upper body, and I'm perfectly fine. No stinging, no missing flesh. I did it! I healed myself! I'm hyperventilating. Somewhere between being mega happy and terrified.

Dad then hugs me tight. "Oh my gosh you did it! Thank goodness you did it!" He says.

"Yeah! Haha! I guess I did!" I said back in tears.

The Bedrocks started cheering and clapping.

Pearl and Amethyst got in on the hug.

"Oh Steven! Thank the stars I thought you were goners!" Pearl cried out.

"I-I didn't." Amethyst said. "I totally knew you had this bro. You did awesome."

"thanks guys. I'm sorry I scared you all there."

"Don't you dare apologize!" Pearl said.

They both managed to pull themselves away.

"We're just so glad you're ok."

Sandra got close. "You look good, hun. How do you feel?"

"Just fine. I mean, kinda weird too. I've never healed myself before."

"Well you sure made a show of it."

"What do you mean?"

"You couldn't tell how much you were glowing?"

"I was glowing?"

"Yeah. Big time. You looked like an adorable little pink neon sign." She chuckled and rubbed her hand through my hair.

I chuckle too. But I look down and noticed a bunch of black and pink-ish flakes all over the floor.

"Um… is this my skin?"

Suddenly Amethyst turned her hand into a shovel, scooped up a clump of dirt with the stuff in it and chucked it away. "NOPE."

"He shtewball, want another shirt?" Dad said. "That one is done."

I look at my shirt. He's right. The left shoulder is completely gone, and it's shredded from there almost to my belly gem. I get up, taking my shirt off, and get the one dad pulled from his pack.

I turn around and apparently it's Lydia's turn to hug me. Well she runs up and is about to, but just stops. She just bows in front of me like a servant or something.

"I'm really really sorry. I didn't wanna burn you, Stevie." Her voice was way more quiet and focused than she usually is. "It was bad form, and I should be punished."

Gosh. Why is she acting like this now? I didn't want her to feel that bad. I grab her shoulders, lean her up from her bowing, and smile. "No you shouldn't. You're fine. I'm fine. It wasn't your fault, and everything is alright." I hug her tight, and she hugs back.

But over her shoulder I notice Pearl tensing up really hard. She kinda looks like she's gonna- "GAAAAAH!!! NO IT'S NOT!"

yep, there it is. She scared the crap out of Arno and Lydia.

"Pearl, calm down." Garnet said.

"This is completely absurd! We are not even an hour into this trip, and Steven gets set on fire!"

"Well I wasn't actually 'on fi--'"

"Throwing our lives on the line in this forsaken Jungle, and for what? A stupid warp pad!?"

"Honey will you cut it out?" Sandra said. "This is bad enough without you giving us the playback."

"You tell ME to cut it out!? If you Bedrocks had just accepted to stay and train in Beach City where it's safe, none of this would happen!"

"Wait you're blaming us for this? We never even wanted to come here. We were just fine looking out for our own kind our own way until he came along. But we went along with this because I just assumed it was you job to protect us!"

"How dare you!? I did everything I could to protect Steven! And you! And You're welcome! But I can do nothing while you allow your little troglodyte to run around out of control!"

Nathan suddenly planted an axe down right between Pearl and Sandra. "Say something else about her, gnome! Do it!"

"And then what happens!? Huh!?"

"What is wrong with you!?" Garnet shouted. "We are still in danger here, and you feel like arguing!"

"I ain't goin' nowhere till this is all out in the open! In case you forgot, y'all been causin' us problems before we even met! A's rock was cracked by one of them monsters, you keep failing to clean up!"

"You ingrate hooligan! If it weren't for all we've already done, you'd all be dead twice over! What more would you have us do!?"

"Put the freaks down like we've been doin'! Better than putting them in your cozy little basement!"

"You what!?" Garnet shouts. "Shattered gems!? Those were our sisters! Bad or good! You shouldn't have messed with forces you don't understand!"

"You wanna know what I understand!?"

Lydia just jumped in. "Hey everybody! Watch me do my gettin' along dance!"

"STAY OUT OF THIS!" They all shouted together.

Lydia retreats.

They all just started yelling over top of each other. I think I heard some stuff about caring more about monsters than the Bedrocks. And maybe something about taking these threats seriously. I can't tell if Amethyst is trying to join in, or break it up. It's all really confusing. Lydia doesn't know what to do with herself. She seems like she wants to speak up, but is afraid to. Arno is sitting in the fetal position. I think he might cry.

But me? Why aren't I getting more upset? I hate when people argue. I always try to stop it. But now, I just kinda don't want to. I guess because this was always gonna happen? Wow that sucks.

Dad just plops down on the ground where we are. "Jeez. This is all a mess." He says.

I sit down and lay against his arm.

"I'm sorry Steven. You just wanted everyone to get along."

"Was there any way to avoid this?"

"Nah, I doubt it. They're too different, they'd argue no matter how they met. I guess the location could've been better."

"I dunno. This place is actually…"

Wait a minute. That's it. Why should I have avoided this? What's even wrong with this place? I GOT IT!

I look to Arno, and try to speak as loud and clear as I can, without screaming.

"It's beautiful here, A."

That was enough. The screaming angry ones stopped what they were doing, and looked at me with equal confusion.

Then Arno looked up.

"You were right. Without all the angry monsters around, it's actually really beautiful. I mean, look at it. The trees are so big and bright, the air is so fresh, no two plants are the same color, and these flowers. Never seen any like it."

I throw a rock up to a flower. Half to check it, and half to take it down. It floated gently into my hand. It's long, and purple, and has blue at the center. So soft, and so delicate. I took a long smell of it.

"Hahaha wow! it smells like raspberry sorbet. Never seen one like this either, have you S?" I walk over to her. "It's amazing, isn't it? The diamonds took so much from this Jungle, but somehow, life came back. You think maybe the corrupted had something to do with that?" I put the flower in her hair. "I dunno. Sometimes a bad thing can become a good thing if you want it to. Like how much clearer the sky is after it rains, or how much bigger grass grows once all the water hits it. Sometimes, maybe a bad thing has to happen."

"Steven…." Pearl started.

"Like you guys. You get all mad yelling at each other for some weird complicated reasons. It would be so much easier if you just blame me."

"Steven, it--" Sandra started.

"I mean, it literally is all my fault. I would have never met N if I didn't leave without dad, he wouldn't have been stuck with me if I didn't threaten to call the cops on him, he wouldn't have seen my Gem if I didn't save him from those cops, I just plain should have told you about Gem Kind to start, S wouldn't have come to Beach City if I didn't talk her into it, I shouldn't have brought up warp pads, I shouldn't have agreed to the Jungle trip, and I wouldn't have got burned if I let N save L instead of me. And I wouldn't have done all that if I didn't have such a humongous hope, that I found someone who knew even a bit how hard it is to be me. Trying to please both humans and Gems. ( _chuckle_ ) Yep. All pretty much my fault. But I don't know what it is about me, but I'm just never the bad guy in arguments like this. Maybe people just don't think I can take it. Well, I took having my skin melted off my face, so karma, I guess. So go ahead. Blame me. Curse at me. Spit at me. But finish it with a good therapeutic round of shutting up. And realize, that this was always meant to happen, and it really couldn't have been any better. In another universe, we would probably try to beat you guys up like any other homeworld Gems. Or in another, you would beat us up, cause to you we're the _spoooooky alien invaderrrs. Here to eat your braaaiins. Ah bloo bloo bloo!_ "

That got a slight chuckle out of A and L. I'm a comedic marvel.

"Bedrock, or Crystal, we are Gems. We're drawn to each other. We couldn't just go our whole lives without knowing we ever existed. And yeah. This all sucks. It would have been better if we all just stuck to what's normal, but never half as great as it's gonna get from here. This jungle will stop being a bad experience, and become a beautiful memory. We are gonna walk back home, be good friends, and have way better love and respect for each other for having gone through this together. But if you guys can't…" I grabbed Arno and Lydia's hands. "We'll do it ourselves."

Absolutely no one knows what to say to what I just said. I didn't expect them to right away. We walked together in the direction we were supposed to be going. Admittedly we took way more steps than I thought we were gonna. I thought they'd stop us by now. Arno seemed to have the same idea.

"Is this not the part where they tell us to--"

"Wait." Garnet said.

We turned around.

"You haven't put on your bug spray." She said, holding one of the cans I packed.

I smirked.

 **~BR~**

The 4 who were arguing did a big round of apologizing before we started again. For the next few hours, the trip turned out way more like how we planned it out. Arno directing, Garnet and Pearl taking out traps, me, N and S taking out monsters, and Amethyst protecting dad and the backpacks. We also made an agreement to leave behind the Gems of the monsters instead of sending them home. Only two or 3 other differences. Lydia isn't wandering off anymore. She's been weirdly quiet. I think she still feels really bad about burning me. I stick really close, trying to let her know it's alright. And Nate, I think he's gone into full show-off mode. He's been diving first at all the monsters we've come across. Glad he's at least keeping his snarky comments down. On the plus, we've kinda started enjoying ourselves a bit more. We all try to beat Garnet at I-Spy. She doesn't lose. But as we went further and further in, I got more curious about something.

"Hey Garnet." I say jogging close to her.

"Can't you wait until we get home?" She says, knowing what I wanna ask.

"No, I wanna know now."

"Well it's a long story."

"It's a long walk. And I'm bored of watching you win I-Spy all the time."

"Hm hm. Very well. Ask your question."

"How did you know how to help me heal myself?"

"I remembered something your mother said about her self healing a long time ago."

"( _Gasp_ ) you knew my mother?"

"Steven, what kind of question is that?"

"Haha! Just kidding. But you didn't see that coming, huh?"

"Hm hm Ok, that was a good one."

"So when did she tell you that?"

"I remember it well. It was the first time I ever got cracked. After a particularly epic battle. No one else was with me, it was a solo mission. I managed to win, but not without injuries. The crack was so bad, my legs couldn't work properly. I had to unfuse. Ruby begged Sapphire to leave her and save herself. Sapphire would never do that. Ruby was so upset, her fire went out of control. Sapphire had to use her ice to keep her calm. Back then we couldn't use a warp pad since homeworld would discover us, so she had to drag her all the way back to the temple. Almost the whole way across what is America now. By the time we got back, Sapphire was exhausted, and Ruby was almost done. Rose healed her up quick. Told us how much she missed us. As soon as I was back together, the two of us relaxed for a while. Out of curiosity I asked her If she could heal herself. She said Not really."

"What's that mean?"

"I asked the same. She said that her tears didn't work on herself, but whenever she got cracked or poofed, she sank into some other place. A place that's cold, and dark. A place where she hears a voice. And sees a face. Her own. She said it's like there's another version of herself, a bigger version, that's always there holding her up. And whenever she gets knocked down, she has to ask her very nicely to pick her back up again. She says there's a bigger one of all Gems."

I try to stifle my laughter. "That's so weird."

Suddenly a huge-ish spider monster jumped right at us. Garnet just caught it, squished it, and threw it's gem away.

"Hehehe yep. That was her alright. But it seemed to work for her. I never saw her cracked myself, but as soon as I saw your spit not work on you, I thought of that moment, and figured it was worth a shot to try to send you there. And luckily it worked."

"Well I didn't see a giant Steven."

"I figured you didn't."

"If there were a Giant Amethyst, I think she would have told us about it by now."

"Well, perhaps it was a metaphor. But you never know. Your mother was truly one of a kind. At least, she used to be. Today you sounded more like her than ever."

"I dunno. I don't really feel like her."

"But when you were saying that stuff, you felt like you. She obviously would have put it way different, but the outcome was the same; you led us when we felt lost. And you did it, as usual, in you own Steven-y way." She rubbed my head.

Then I saw something coming from behind her. "HEY! I spy--"

She caught it before it touched her. It was like a long, spider-snake or something.

"You spy a monster?" She crushed it.

I pouted as she threw it away. "I was gonna say the fruit tree."

"I'll bet."

At some point in the trip, we came to a steep drop. It wasn't difficult getting down. Me and L floated down, Amethyst dropped straight down with her luggage, Pearl dropped carrying A, Garnet dropped carrying Dad, And N crawled down With S on his back like a koala bear. Oh I see. He won't carry me 'cause I'm fat and heavy, but he can carry Sandra who's got 200 pounds of muscle on me and a sack of axes strapped to her back. You are something else, Nate. You are something else.

A little later, I help N take down a pretty big Corrupted monster. I stick my hand up for a high five, but he just leaves me hanging and walks right by. Is this cold shoulder just gonna be a regular thing with him?

He does go to L and asks her if she saw that. Saying, "I went all SWISH SWISH STAB! And It went like BLAaaaAAH Arrrghhh POP!"

She just gave a smile and a nod, and we continued on. Man. She really is bummed. She was the one most excited to come here. I especially feel bad for Nate trying so hard to make her feel better. I started to think that's part of why he's taking all the monsters. He looks pretty disappointed, and thinks about what to do next. I wish I had brought my guitar. Music is always good medicine. I just didn't want it getting broken.

But some kind of lightbulb went off in his head. He puts his big axe back in the sack, and pulls out something I didn't know they packed; two small, rusty, metal pipes. What is he gonna do with that?

He passes in front of Lydia, and winks to her. Next thing I know, he starts beating on tree trunks in a rhythm while we walked. Suddenly Lydia lights up. Not- Not like on fire, I mean she gets really giddy. Nate must've read my mind, I think he's gonna start singing! ...Oh no he's gonna start singing.

"Yo. Listen up, y'all." He said.

Then S started clapping with his beat, and A started beatboxing.

Wait a minute. This isn't singing. It's… rapping?

"Uh-huh. Uh-huh.

I'm the king of the Jungle, and I can't be tamed. If Ya

Disssobey, then Ya

Gonna get maimed. Nuh-uh.

No time for insubordination.

Smellin' yo fear got my mouth salivatin'.

Yeah.

Don't play dumb, I know ya heard of us.

Me and my crew, we are the backstreet warriors.

Just give it a bit of a minute and let it sink in.

But we are takin' yo bacon all while ya blinkin'!"

He passes the pipes to Lydia who keeps the beat going, then moves toward the head of the pack.

"Bout time for all y'all to be aware and be scared.

That there's no time to prepare. No.

We are comin' head-huntin' at the break a dawn.

Then the feast is on!

yo.

We are givin y'all a gore like a boar with tusks.

You can run all day but you will get touched.

I have come a long way just to barbecue.

So come on ya fool!

Bring ya whole buffet too!

YUM!

I understand how ya think we are ingrate hooligans.

But I'll be grateful eatin' you again!

And you'll be shook.

'Cause ain't no such thing as halfway cooked.

You scared to death,

You scared to look!

Livin' yo life,

Lookin' over yo shoulder,

Tryin, to run!

But get knocked down, chopped up, and well done!

Uh. Uh. Uh.

You ain't a crook, son.

Uh. Uh. Uh.

You just a cooked one."

HAHAHAHAHA! Okay, I admit. This Is Aggressive, but really good, and really funny. Everyone else is so into it at this point. Although, I kinda feel like it's a jinx to be rapping so much about cannibalism, while we're still in this jungle full of angry Corrupted Gems.

"Yeah!

The man with the plan.

Rollin' in the Badlands.

Thought it was easy,

But it easily gets outta hand.

With those who don't understand,

All the words that get me banned.

But I will say 'em 'cause I,

CAN!

I try to be clear when I spit this flow.

But you pretend you don't know,

Then around and around we go- Woah WAH!"

Garnet suddenly picks him up and moves him around to her side. Stopping everyone.

"Okay, I get you don't like the rap, but you don't gotta be this rough." Nate said. "Or at least, not in front of the kids."

"You were about to walk into a trap." Garnet said.

Nate looked into the path were about to walk through. "Where? I don't see anything."

No one else sees anything either. Before, no matter how well hidden, the traps have always had a Tell of some kind. Floor spike traps? Slightly greener patches of grass. Swinging objects? Warped branches. Most of the time it's Gems on the floor we never poofed. But here there's nothing.

Then Garnet picked up a stick, and threw it into the path.

The stick was shredded in mid air by a bunch of glowing white spikes that came literally out of nowhere from all sides. The spikes retracted, and left only sawdust.

Pearl and Garnet look at it, puzzling, and the rest of us are scared stiff.

"A'ight, that's a good trap." Nate said, backing up next to us.

"I can't see where the mechanism would be." Pearl said. "This one is going to be a challenge."

Garnet and Pearl started walking in different directions, throwing sticks at the path, and it just seems to be a big long wall of spikes either way.

We just sat around and waited. Having some food and water.

"Hey, Arno." Dad said. "How much further did you say it was?"

"Well, I am pretty sure there is a river not far from here, then from there it's just about 2 miles to the warp pad."

"That's good. The sun's starting to go down."

"Yeah. And I've been off my phone for way too long." Sandra said.

"Man, your powers are sweet." Amethyst said. "Finding things, building things, you're like a total geek package, kid."

"Well, the building things thing is not really a power. It's just a thing I have learned."

"Eh. Power is relative. Superman can fly, but I'd like to see him draw better than a stick figure." She just shoves a whole juice box into her mouth.

"Hehe. Well, thank you… Um, Chocolate thunder."

Amethyst did a _"Yess!"_ motion with her fist.

"Hey Amethyst. Have you ever seen this before?" He showed her the Gem ring he showed me in the van.

"Nope." She said.

"( _sigh_ ) Worth a shot. Garnet and Pearl haven't seen it either."

"I'm sure if you guys decide to work with us a lot we'll find out where that thing came from. That's what the Crystal Gems do best."

"Yeah. I am sure."

"What do you wanna find with that anyway?" I asked.

"I don't know. Just, some reason I was put here. Something that says I belong."

"Well, word of advice bud?" Amethyst said. "You'll probably be disappointed with what you find in the past. Be glad you got friends in the now saying you belong."

S rubbed his hair.

"I guess so." He said.

"What about you, Mystery Girl. What do you wanna gain hangin' with the CG Squad?" Amethyst asked Sandra.

"Me? I dunno. Learning how to fight and protect the Society better would be cool."

"You seem pretty good to me?"

"Well, you know. Could always do better."

"A'ight. What about--"

"FIRE SWORDS!" L said.

"Should've seen that coming. How 'bout you, Ghostface Killer?"

Nate just sat there quietly, eating his granola bar, not looking at anyone.

"Nate?" I said. No response.

Sandra chucked a pebble at his head.

"Ow. What?" He said.

"I just asked what you want from us." Amethyst said.

"Oh. Nothing."

"Um, alright?"

"N, are you ok?" Sandra asked.

"Peachy."

"Who took the jam outta his doughnut?" Amethyst said, in a british accent.

"He's always crabby about something. He'll work through it."

"Oh Steven. What was that you said about calling the cops on him? What was that for?"

Oh jeez, I forgot I never told the Gems or dad about that. I look to Nate, worried how he'd look at me when that came up again. But, he's still not even looking here. Actually, he turns to face away from the group. I don't think he cares any more. But, still kinda embarrassing to talk about.

"Well, that's kind of a long story… I--"

"It's none of your business." Sandra cut in. "He made a mistake, and I'll make sure he won't make it again."

"Hey. I Ain't judgin'." Amethyst said back. "I just wanna know what you guys are about."

"And what are you about?"

"Well it's funny. Watching all you guys, I realized something. I've been all you guys at one point or another. I know what it's like. Trying to fit in, acting out, trying to get attention, not being good enough. I popped out of the ground after the war. I thought I'd be poofed and bubbled like the rest of the troops, because I was just the leftovers of their enemies."

That got Nate to turn his head slightly.

"But those 2 reminded me that I was born free from all that. I was the best thing to come out of there. And It never gets old to hear. So to reiterate, you belong, and you are good enough. Just wait and see. You'll be great here."

"Huh. Thank you Amethyst. I never pegged you for a wise one."

"I know. Quite the scholar, right?" She morphed her face around her eyes to look like really thick glasses.

The rest of us got disgusted, then we laughed.

It got quiet for a good 30 seconds.

"Huh. That is odd." Arno finally said.

"What?" I said.

"It has been really quiet for a while. I thought for sure something would jump at us by now."

"Huh. I guess you're right. Maybe they all finally learned their lesson and got tired of--"

And of course on cue, some black arms burst out of the ground all around us. I reacted immediately, and got everyone in my bubble. They jumped out of the ground, and it is 4 Slinkers. These black octopus like monsters, with big blue flowery heads. One of them digs around the temple, and we haven't been able to catch it to this day.

Everyone looks to Arno with disappointment of his Jinx. He just shrugs in embarrassment. The other Bedrocks grab their axes, and Amethyst gets her whip out.

Pearl came running back. "Steven!"

"Uhh, Hi Pearl! How's it going with that trap?"

"I-I think I found the mechanism! I'll try to dismantle it! Just stay in your bubble!"

"No prob! Take your time! Hehe."

She ran back into the jungle, and the slinkers started beating against the bubble.

"So we're not really staying in here, right hun?" S asked.

"No. I don't want them chasing Pearl and Garnet."

"Aww. But I still wanna ride it." L said.

"And it is still not the time."

I burst my bubble and make all the slinkers fly back. One tries to burrow, but Amethyst caught it with her whip. S leaped and poofed it with her big axe. We were struggling to keep the others off us. I use my shield to block for A, and he slashes with a tomahawk. N punched, kicked, and swung his big axe at one, and L chopped away with her two small tomahawks. These things are slippery. You have to stay in constant motion just to keep them from grabbing you. And they won't fall for what S and Amethyst just did a second time. They managed to get underground again.

"Everyone get high!" I took dad into a tree.

Amethyst took A, and the rest of the Bedrocks got up by themselves.

The three slinkers started circling the bottom of the tree underground.

"L!" N said. "Scorch the land, and flush 'em out!"

"No!"

"Now!"

"No!"

"Why not!?"

"I don't wanna hurt Stevie again!"

"He's up here safe, and he's not gonna tackle you again!" He looks at me. "Are you!?"

"Just forget it, Nate! If she doesn't wanna do it, she doesn't have to!"

"You got a better plan!?"

one slinker popped out of the ground and scaled the tree fast. I threw my shield. It stopped dazed, but it didn't let go.

"Oh screw it! I'll do it myself!"

N hooked his axe to a branch, swung and kicked the slinker off the tree. It latched onto him, and they both fell. The other two started climbing the tree, but N dragged his to them to get the others down. They all started grappling on the floor.

"NATHAN!" S leaped out of the tree.

She wrapped her arms around the one she landed on, rolled around on the floor with it, stopped, got her legs around, and squeezed it till it popped. Another set of slinker arm came out of the ground and wrapped around her. She kiped up off the floor, taking the slinker up out of the ground with her. She swung it like a wrecking ball to hit the other two off N. He's cut up, making red streaks down his tattered skull shirt.

Finally, at the path, the trees that must have been fake all disintegrated. Garnet and Pearl took down the trap. They came around the corner.

"Come this way, and stay off the floor." Garnet said.

Us in the trees moved in their direction while keeping off the floor.

S and N moved that way, right towards the 3 Slinkers. They swung their axes, but two Slinkers caught them. But they brought each of their arms close, so that N could quickly tie them together. The third one tried to grab N from behind, but he slid under the bundle of arms, so that S could grab the 3rd and tie it to the bundle. Then they both springboarded off the Slinkers heads, and leaped into the air.

As they're up, Garnet punches the ground, sending surges of electricity bouncing along the floor right at the Slinkers. They explode in a huge cloud, letting their gems fall.

S and N landed, we got out of the tree, and kept running on the path.

 **~BR~**

When we get back to a walking pace, Nate can't even keep his arms down because of how much his cuts sting.

He's been muttering and seething for the past few minutes.

"Um, Nathan, if your wounds hurt that bad, you need to either let Steven heal you, or Greg administer first aid."

Pearl says.

"I said… don't nobody… Touch me! OW. I'm fine."

I looked to Arno and Sandra. They nodded. They already mentioned N needs to be tricked into taking his medicine. This is what dad always did to me.

"Everybody wait! Stop!"

Everybody stopped.

"I hear something."

"What? What is it?" Pearl asked.

I looked along the floor for something. Any excuse. Fortunately I found a snail.

"I think this snail just spoke to me." I say, with as much wonder as I can. I pick it up.

"Really?" Nate asks sincerely.

Pearl is confused.

Garnet starts snickering.

"Yeah Yeah. It must be a Gem snail. Can't you hear it?"

Nate leans down to listen to the snail.

As soon as his head is low enough, I slobber my finger up real good, and dig it right into his ear. "WET WILLIE!"

"HYAAAAAH!" He squeals like a girl and recoils in disgust.

Everyone except Pearl and Garnet are hunched over laughing. Pearl is desperately trying not to bust up.

All of N's cuts are disappearing fast, but he looks like he is about to blow up with unimaginable rage. He may as well be steaming like L. He tugs on the top of his hair hard, and his skin goes beat red. But then, just as he's about to go full Super Saiyajin, he just exhales and relaxes his body. His skin goes back to chalky normal. "Well played, Sandals." He turns and walks up ahead of everyone, throwing away his messed up shirt.

That's it? No yelling? Calling everyone an idiot? Ok.

We continued to walk too.

"I am supposed to be up front anyway, so I should bring him his hoodie." Arno said.

Dad gave him the hoodie, and A walked to the front. L cartwheeled after him.

Me and S walked together. I noticed she still had the blue and purple flower in her hair.

"Was he really gonna go the rest of the way with all those cuts?" I ask.

"He was gonna try, I know that much." She answered. "He can take a lot of pain. Don't think as much as you though."

"I doubt that."

"Come on. Even with adrenaline, you didn't even feel how bad you were burned till way later? Anyone else would be floored instantly. You've got some sick tolerance, kid."

"Hehe. thanks. But what about how much he's been avoiding me? Is N mad at me for something?"

"Probably what he's been mad at you for since Jersey."

"Oh. He still isn't over it, huh?"

"He's always taken things way more personal than others, but I can't say I blame him. This is still a lot to process."

"Even for you?"

"A little."

"Are you mad at me at all?"

"( _sigh_ )Steven, you should know you Didn't talk me into anything. You certainly played a part, but I actually kinda wanted to go to Beach City. Well, I more wanted Nathan to go."

"Why?"

"Well… can you keep a secret?"

"Nope."

"Whatever. Um, the truth is, Nate should be a Crystal Gem more than any of us."

"Uhh ok… What's gotten into you?"

"( _Giggle_ ) Yeah yeah, I know. N can be… He is a total wad, who's selfish, violent, and bitter, but look at what else he is. He fights so hard for his friends, he's not afraid of anything, he always speaks his mind when something is wrong, he's got great instincts in a fight, and when push comes to shove, he knows just the right thing to do. And look at the rest of us. Arno? He doesn't scare easily, but he doesn't know what to do in a fight. And he isn't much of a team player. He has a future in maybe engineering, but not this. Lydia? Pearl was right. She's too wild. And I can't take this responsibility. I can never focus, I can't commit, my memory sucks, I'm way out of shape, I'll just slow everyone down. I got my mom and my shop to worry about. But Nate has always deserved better than a life of crime on the streets, and I think this was what he was meant for. Even if this doesn't work out for the rest of us, I need it to work out for him. If you guys just push him in the right direction, you can make him a great hero."

I can't believe this. She has this much faith in Him? And more than herself? I didn't get them together to play favorites. They deserve the same things.

"I thought you didn't want charity."

"I want you to give him an opportunity, not charity."

"Well I don't agree with you. I think you're all fine the way you are. Just because you got problems doesn't mean some are more worthy than others. What would they think if you don't try at this?"

"I know. I know Steven. You don't need to worry about me trying. Just promise me you won't give up on him. No matter what."

"I Promise. Do you promise?"

I held up the Bedrock sign.

"Yeah. I promise."

She held up the Bedrock sign. And we bumped fists.

"Everybody stop." Garnet called up ahead.

We came to this huge deep lake, under a beautiful waterfall, that feeds into a river going out to the right. The cliff of the waterfall looks like stretches up all the way to the clouds. Just trying to see the top gets the setting sun's glare in your eyes.

"Huh." Arno said. "Did not think there'd be a waterfall."

"What?" Amethyst said.

"Well the second warp pad should be 2 miles past this point. But I suppose we will need to be… up there." He pointed to the top of the waterfall.

"Oh well done, A." N said, annoyed. Now wearing his hoodie. "How are we supposed to get up there?"

"I don't know. You are the climber. Why don't you figure it out?"

"Oh you wanna see climbing? I'll show you climbing."

He walked to the waterfall, but Pearl put a hand up to stop him.

"Actually, I'd rather you not." She said. "Look at how high and wet that cliff is. Even with your powers, it's too big of a risk you'd fall down. Not to mention the fact that literally no one else can even attempt to get up there."

"Can't y'all just super jump?"

"Even we cannot jump that high." Garnet said. "And it is still too dangerous to try to carry everyone else. Especially since the sun is getting so low."

"So what do we do, Garnet?"

"Looks like this one is a camp out."

"Ha! See, Steven?" Dad said. "I knew it wasn't pointless bringing the tents."

"So wait. We're gonna have to stay out here all night?" S asked.

"Yes. Pearl, Amethyst and I will find a good spot along the side of the cliff, and build a ladder from the forest for us to climb up. This will take all night."

"Can I help?" Arno asked.

"You've done quite enough today. You need rest, and we do not."

"Yay! Camping!" Lydia shouts with glee. "Imma roast marshmallows, make s'mores, roast pigs on spits, tell scary stories, and--"

"Um, Lydia?" Dad interrupted. "There aren't any s'mores."

"Or spits." I added.

"Or pigs." S added.

"Or the capacity to stay awake for a scary story." N added.

I swear I could pinpoint the exact moment her heart breaks, and a little rain cloud appears above her head.

 **~BR~**

Night fell. The Crystal Gems were hard at work on their ladder, we set up the tents, started a bonfire, and sat down for dinner. Which was just pepperoni cheese sandwiches with no condiments or anything. We didn't have enough for another day out here, so we figured we'd just fill up on what we had left now, and rush to the end tomorrow. No one had the energy for a scary story, but dad did regale us with his best dad jokes, And Nate treated us to some of his… Admittedly funny, if a little creepy crime stories from Jersey and other cities. Dad didn't seem to care as much as I thought he would. Lydia thought it would be a good idea to roast some of her sandwiches over the fire like a marshmallow. They just kept catching fire, falling apart, or both. But this did give her an idea. She sets a couple more branches on fire, and does an amazing dance routine. The Bedrocks provided the music by drumming on a log with sticks and reciting a faster rap song they all knew. Who needs a guitar when you got friends like these?

Eventually we all got tired and turned in. I was scared for 2 things. 1 that L just doesn't sleep, 2 that she heats up in her sleep if she does. But she went to sleep just like everyone else. We could only pack 3 tents, so S and N shared 1, me and dad shared another, and L and A shared the last.

I slept for a good 3 and a half hours before I woke up from a nightmare about being burned. I guess i'm not as over that as I thought. I tried to go back to sleep for a bit, but I couldn't. I left the tent, went to… what I guess you'd call the bathroom out here, drank water, and was about to go back to bed, when I noticed the first tent was open. Sandra was sleeping in there alone, snoring like a bear, but Nate was nowhere to be seen. Part of me thought he went to the bathroom too, but I wanted to be safe. I zipped up the tent, grabbed the flashlight and went looking. He was barefoot, and his prints led down the river. Then they turned heading into the trees. I followed until they stopped at this one tree. I was really confused about why they just ended here. Then I remembered what his power was. I backed up, and looked up. I saw his silhouette in front of the moon, sitting against the trunk on a branch. I couldn't tell if he was sleeping or not. So I jumped up to his branch to see.

I struggled to climb up onto the branch for a second. He was awake, but he didn't acknowledge me. He just sat with his head facing the moon and the jungle. I was about to speak, but he beat me to it.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?" He asked.

"Um, I had a bad dream."

"So why didn't you go back to sleep?"

"I was just wondering why you're not asleep either."

"I've always been fine with 2 hours of sleep. It's actually hard for me to stay asleep longer."

"Oh. Well, that's neet."

"Probably alien, huh?"

"Yeah, maybe… So what are you doing up here then?"

"Boring stuff. You should go to bed."

"Yeah, I can't just leave you out here alone. There could be a monster."

"Only ones out tonight are them."

"Who?"

He points out into the distant forest with 3 fingers. Then 2. Then 1.

Suddenly spots within the trees start glowing yellowish green. Then these big monsters that look like glowing stingray/bats start flying up. They fly so smoothly and slowly. They leave some glowy trail behind that falls back into the trees. They are absolutely beautiful.

"Wow. They're beautiful."

"Guess so."

"So what were you doing up here in the first place?"

"I'm… just getting the lay of the land. That's all."

"What?"

"Y'know, seeing where everything is, where we are, and where we're going."

"Well what did you learn?"

"Besides the bats, nothing. Everything just blurs to me in this place. I don't know how Arno does it."

"Yeah. Is something wrong with you?"

"No, nothing."

"Are you sure?"

"( _sigh_ ) It's just… I've only ever been to Jersey, Empire, and a bunch of other trashy cities. They were all just the same. I always know just where everything is, and just who to talk to or beat up to get what I want. And I was always the weird looking kid with a bad rep you don't wanna mess with. It was easy. Got stuff done. But then you come around, tell me I'm an alien, bring me to this stupid jungle, and it turns out I don't know squat."

"( _sigh_ ) Nathan, I get why you're mad at me, but I'm not gonna apologize to you anymore. This is the way it is, so you just have to deal with it."

"Well then, I'm sorry."

"Uhh… Huh?"

"I said I'm sorry."

"I… I thought you weren't gonna repeat that."

"Well I was wrong. Been before."

"Oh. Ok. What do you have to apologize for?"

He brought both his knees to his chest, and looked right at me. "I was mad at you, Steven. I was mad at you for judging me, criticizing me, threatening to snitch, actually snitching, lying, telling that stuff about Gems, being so unapologetically goody goody, hell I was mad at you for just existing."

"Um… but?"

"But, when I saw you earlier, squirming on the floor, skin falling off, screaming, crying for your non-existent mother, and everyone wanting you to be alright so badly, all I was thinking was… was..." he rubs his eyes.

I try to fill in the blank. "Um, _'take me instead'_? _'Be strong Steven'_? _'Maybe if I love hard enough he'll'_ \--"

"I thought _'good. Now we're even'_."

Wow. I… Just wow.

"( _scoff_ ) God, what kinda jerk am I, Huh? This kid, this little child, who didn't do anything really wrong to me, and I- ( _sigh/grunt_ )"

"Nate?"

"I wasn't mad at myself for that, no I freaking hated myself. But, I kinda noticed it wasn't that different from how I always feel."

"So, what? All that extra monster fighting today wasn't some way to show off? It was some sort of self punishment?"

"First moment I saw you, I was convinced you weren't one of us, and that you didn't belong. But after today, I realized that I've just been mad that I'm not one of you, and I don't belong. And that. That is the way it is."

"What… what are you talking about?"

"I'm saying it'd be easier if I wasn't around you guys. As soon as we get the warp pad, I'm out. I'm not coming back."

He laid back against the tree and turned away from me.

The ray bats went down a bit closer and disappeared.

"What? You'd seriously leave the Bedrock Society?"

"No. I don't think I could ever leave her. I'm just gonna keep my distance while you're doing your training thing."

"What about you wanting half of what I have?"

"I had no clue what you had when I said that."

"How do you think they'd feel about you just quitting? They'd probably be lost without you."

"Please. They're better off without me. Those 3 are meant to do this stuff. Especially S. She's got it all. Everything you want for this girl scout league. It's not for me."

I tried to process what he just said. Then when I realized the irony, I thought of the way to get through to him. I laughed really hard.

"Kid, I am being so serious."

I laughed some more.

"I'll bite. What is so funny?"

"I-I'm sorry. It's just funny, because Sandra told me that none of the Bedrocks have a place with the Crystal Gems except for you. Not even herself."

He seemed really confused. He sat up and leaned closer. "What? Seriously? _she_ said that?"

"Yeah, she did. And it turns out, I disagree with both of you. I think you all belong. I promised her that I would help you be better, and wouldn't give up on you no matter what. And she promised me she wouldn't either. You guys have to be in this together, or you'll all give up. If you can't promise me, just promise her. Please?" I stuck my hand out to him.

He took a minute to consider. "What if I can't be what you think?"

"Then you can tell us both we're wrong."

He hesitated again. "( _sigh_ ) Whatever floats your boat, Sandals." He said, Dabbing the palm of my hand.

"Thank you."

"You say that a lot."

"You don't. You wanna come back to camp?"

"May as well stay for one more round. The bats are coming back up in a couple minutes."

"Alright. Well, I think I'll stay for that too."

We sat in silence until the Ray bats came back up. One of them flew right over us, and dropped specs of its trail all around us. They're even more beautiful up close. So big. So bright. Such a soft glow. Such peaceful creatures. I feel… so very peaceful. So relaxed. So warm. So heavy. My eyes and my body are so heavy. I just wanna rest and relax with these beautiful ray bats. I lay my head down. And my eyes drift shut. I fall into the deepest of sleeps. And this time have no nightmare. No dream at all. Just the rest.

 **~BR~**

"Steven!"

My eyes flutter open to the sound of my name being called.

"Steven?"

"( _Groan_ ) Five more minutes Pearl." I roll over, and through my squinted eyes, I see the jungle floor far beneath the Branch I just remembered I'm laying on.

"WO WO WOAH!" I catch the branch before I fall completely down. Now I'm awake.

"Nathan!" S yells in the distance.

The branch shakes enough to Wake Nate up, and his face shoots up from the branch. "What, huh!? I didn't do it! It was the big chick wit da funny hair, and the boy's in on it too!"

"Nathan it's me." I say, dangling.

"Oh. Hey Steven. ( _Inhale, exhale_ )" He looked around, very confused. "We didn't go back to camp, did we?"

"No I think the Ray bat things put us to sleep."

"Oy vey. Feels more like a coma."

"Yeah. It did. Do you think you can pull me up?"

"Oh, my bad."

He helped me back onto the branch. He noticed some drool on my cheek and rubbed it off with his sleeve.

"Boys! Where are you!?" Dad called.

"We should probably get down huh?" I said.

"Wait. Why did I pull you back up, then?"

"I dunno. You Idiot." I say with a giggle. I drop and float down.

"You're the idiot." He says with a giggle. He walks down the trunk.

I stretch during the fall. When I land I walk to the river. I see the others coming this way and wave. They wave back.

Nate comes around almost as soon as they get to me.

"There you two are. What were you up to?" Pearl asked.

"Bird watching." N answered immediately. Well it's not IN-accurate.

"Um... interesting. Well come along. The ladder is finished."

"That's great. We'll be home before noon." I say.

"Actually Steven, it is noon." She says, embarrassed.

"Yeah, something made us go to sleep last night, and we only finished it like 15 minutes ago." Amethyst said.

"What the heck were those things!?" N exclaimed.

"Were what?" Garnet asked.

"( _sigh_ ) Forget it."

We went back to where they set up the rope ladder. It actually looks great for being made of stuff from the Jungle. On the way up we told them about the things we saw last night. They said that it was fascinating, they couldn't think of the specific gems with powers like that, and they regretted not seeing them themselves. We made it to the top, and continued northeast to the end. It seems like we are in the clear from here on, but I refuse to say that out loud. No more jinxing.

After a bit under an hour, there it is. The Gem's fence at the edge of the Jungle. We made it. We finally made it!

"WOO HOO! We made it!" I say, jumping and cheering, followed by everyone else.

"You know, overall, I think this was an incredible adventure." A said.

"Yeah, it was some kind of adventure, hun." S said, fiddling with her hair. "I'll be picking bugs and leaves out of my hair from now until the day I die. Think I might cut it."

"This was awesome!!" L said. "Remember when you choked out that slinky thing? It was all like _'Hrrlgrkkacgkh bleeeegh!'_ And you were like _'Night night! Say night night!'_ HAHAHA! You were cool!"

"Hey not as cool as you throwing that flower crab!" I said. "I wish I could touch fire so I could throw fireballs like that."

"Yeah! ...yeah. Stevie… Can't play with fire."

Oops.

"But… Stevie Glows! HaHa! Twinkle twinkle! Like a Pink Diamond in the sky!"

Whew.

"Haha yeah! Glad you enjoyed the light show!"

"Wanna talk about light shows?" N said. "Y'all see G absolutely Faporize them squids?"

"Vaporize, dude. And yeah. That was pretty sweet." S said. "But what you didn't see while you were up in the tree, was Pearl taking out like 20 of those crabs with her spear before they even hit the ground. She is crazy fast, man." She punched Pearl in the shoulder.

"Hehe well, it is not a competition." Pearl said, blushing. "But if it were, I think I would win."

"Really? You didn't see the tarzan action I was on in that tree." N said. "I grabbed one of those suckers and swun on it like a baller."

"Yeah I was there!"

"But I think the best part of this experience has been being able to get closer with the 4 of you." Garnet said. "I think you'll make great friends with Steven."

"Yeah." Dad said. "And next time, I'm treating you all to a real camping trip. S'mores, hiking, fishing, the whole nine yards."

"Amen to that, daddy o." S said.

"Hooray for fat hairy man!" L said.

"Sounds sweet." N said. "But I gotta admit. I wouldn't mind a few more rounds of monster bashing. I'll take 'em all on, one by one, in an orderly line."

"Cool your jets. You couldn't fight your way outta wet paper bag." S said.

"Oh yeah? HAAGH!" he jumped on her back and messed with her.

She giggled and struggled to get him off. "Knock it off you doofus."

She shoved him off, and he almost stumbled into a big bush. Laughing the whole time.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Y-you know? The one thing… I'm surprised we didn't get to see was that mother flower crab monster you mentioned."

"Oh we completely forgot about her." Amethyst said. "Guess we out ran her."

"Or she saw what we did to her pups an we scared her off. Smart move I say. I wish a crab would try to step to this, just so I can see it's ugly face. All 10 or 20 feet of some overgrown, flowery seafood special. Ain't so big and tough, is ya?"

We were laughing at his insults of this corrupted gem… 'Til she showed up. Right in the middle of his talking, a bunch of those familiar red and yellow flowers appeared in the bush behind him. Followed by two big glowing yellow orbs I took to be eyes. Then all our faces dropped.

"In fact, Y'know what I'd do if she did? I put her right in that lake under the waterfall, and have L boil her up real good. Get her all nice and juicy…"

We tried to point it out to him but he just kept talking.

"But first I'd milk her dry, and churn her own milk into butter, and eat her all up with that. And I'll eat her from the tail up. So she has to watch. Let her know just how delicious she is, and she is standing RIGHT behind me isn't she?"

We all just nod.

His demeanor drops, and he puts his head into his hand. "Oh boy."

The big green bush fades away, and the long red frame of the mother flower crab is in its place. He turns around to fully appreciate how big and gruesome it is with us. It is almost the size of a bus. It's body is covered in thick segments of scales, with the only openings being what looks like big flowers before they bloom. It's tail looks like a huge pickaxe, and could probably be used as one. It stands on two thick hind crab legs, and it has dozens rope-like flowers for arms, that twist and bundle together to form 2 thick front legs. It's face has 2 big horns like a triceratops, and a huge crab claw for a mouth like the smaller ones we fought.

We all got our weapon's out, as It leaned forward right into Nate's face. They stared each other down.

"So uhh… You know I was just playin', right? 'bout the whole eating you thing?"

It roared loud and long at him. Then thrust it's flower arms at him.

"Guess NOTT!" He jumped, kicked off the arms, back flipped, and landed right next to me.

Sandra gave him an axe.

"You know, I'm not even mad at being jinxed." I said. "I'm mad that your insults keep making me so hungry."

"Shut up and throw the shield."

I tried to throw my shield at her face, but she just smacked it away, and thrust her arms right at us. We scattered. Dad went to hide.

She arched her back, the flowers on her back opened up, and the little flower crabs started shooting out of them.

Fighting them off made it hard to avoid her attacks with her arms.

She spun and slashed her tail at me, L and N. Me and L ducked under, while N jumped up and ran along her tail. He beat at her back with his axe, but it didn't do anything. He tried to take out the flowers, but she grabbed him and threw him away. I jumped and caught him.

She stretched her arms out, and dug them into the ground on either side of me. She leaned back a bit, and slingshotted herself right at us horns first. I got my bubble out to block. Then Garnet popped right in front of us, and stopped her dead in her tracks. We get knocked back like a pinball. Garnet pushed against her face, while Sandra pulled against the tail. She reluctantly moved back. But the small ones jumped all over S and Garnet's back. Pearl did lightning quick jabs with her spear to poof the ones on Sandra. Amethyst whipped off the ones on Garnet.

"Amethyst." Garnet said. "Plug those flowers."

Amethyst nodded and jumped up onto the mother's back.

Pearl tried to pull the tail with Sandra, but they both got whipped around like ragdolls. Amethyst wrapped her whips around the back flowers and pulled tight.

Garnet dug her horns into the floor, and moved under the belly. The mother's flower arms tried to grab at her, but she deflected. Lydia got under their with her and helped fight off the arms. Doing some dancing spinning moves with her tomahawks. Garnet punched up into her belly. She shook and yelped with each shot. But she just won't poof.

"Steven, the neck!" Nate yelled.

He's right. The back of her neck is exposed, and there is less armor on it.

"I'll launch you!" I said.

I got my shield out, he got his axe ready. He did a backflip, and I rammed the front of my shield into his feet. He shot out like a cannon.

The axe dug into her neck, but she just yanked her face out of the dirt, and screamed in serious pain. I really wished that would be quicker and painless. As she leaned up, S and Pearl were thrown into L and Garnet. The 4 of them landed over here. N and Amethyst fell off her back. She turned to stomp on them, but Nate put his body over Amethyst and turned invisible. She looks around confused. Tries prodding her mouth around to find them. I throw my shield at her face to distract her. As soon as she comes this way, The 2 of them reappear and run for it. She heard them running and threw some arms their way. Nate slices them off, but they regrow instantly. Garnet leaps and decks her right in the face, and she falls onto her side. Garnet stands on her face and bashes her a few times, but she gets grabbed and thrown. She gets up, and S and L nail her with their axes. They hit with so much force, all three axes break on contact. She grabs L up, but struggles with S. N and Amethyst come around to free L. N goes back to slice her, but she catches the axe with her arms, and breaks it to pieces.

"Come on, guys! I have worked very hard on these weapons!" A shouts.

Garnet helps S break free.

"We have to find a way to break her shell!" Garnet said.

"Rose's sword could probably pierce it! If only we had it!" Pearl said.

She sprouts more little ones.

"Maybe you can get through the flowers and take it out from the inside." S said.

"Welp, guess I gotta jump into a monster today." Amethyst said.

"Crystal Gems, together!" Garnet said.

We get on guard with what's left of our weapons as the monsters come at us.

But then, a loud roar comes from our left, and we all cover our ears from the sound. The monsters get all loopy and dazed from it. As soon as it stops, we all look to where it came from.

I… I can't believe it. It's Connie! She is mounting Lion and holding mom's sword in her hand. She screams at the top of her lungs, and raises the sword as Lion charges.

"CONNIE!" I shout.

"Oh thank god I don't have to jump into a monster today!" Amethyst says, extremely relieved.

Lion runs right at the crab legs, and Connie cuts them clean off. The mother falls flat. Lion throws Connie onto her back, and she cuts off both of the flowers.

Lion goes for the little ones.

"Hi Steven!" Connie says, slicing at the flower arms.

"Hi Connie! How was your violin thingy?"

"It was great! thanks!"

The Bedrocks are in stunned silence.

"Uhh… Is she like, your Girlfriend?" N asks, dumbfounded.

"No. She's my best friend, who is a girl, who is riding a pink lion, swinging a pink sword."

"Ah. Well… make her your girlfriend. Soon."

"Don't be weird, dude."

I ran and jumped up onto the back with Connie with my shield. We fought the flower arms back to back.

"Connie! Break through the shell! I'll cover you!"

"Got it!"

Connie stabbed hard into the back. She squealed in pain, but didn't poof. The tail came at us and I blocked it. Lion is holding some of the arms down with his mouth. The crab legs are beginning to grow back. Connie stabs a few more times, but it still doesn't work.

"Steven, I'm not strong enough to cut all the way through her! You need to do it!"

I hesitated. I haven't used my mom's sword since I poofed Bismuth, but there's no way the mother is gonna let us fuse from our position. And I think Garnet would just refuse. Probably say I'm ready to use it again. No. _I_ say I'm ready. It's now or never.

"Ok!" I put my hand out and she gives me the sword. "I'm sorry about this, big girl."

Me and Connie both jump at the same time. She lands on Lion and they ride around to distract her.

I go way high in the air, stall in mid air, then speed up my fall as much as I can. "Overheeeeaaaad… DEATHSTRIKE!" I cut clean through her and crash onto the floor.

She poofs in a huge puff of smoke, and I hear her Gem clink onto the ground.

As soon as the smoke clears, Everyone claps and cheers for me and Connie.

"Bravo! Encore! Encore!" Lydia cheered.

Connie got off Lion and hugged me.

"Wow Connie, I'm so glad you're here. Thanks for the save." I give the sword back.

"Glad to see you too, Steven. Looks like I made it just in time. What are you guys doing here?"

"Oh we came to get our new friends a warp pad."

The other's came this way.

"New friends?"

"Nice to meet you, sugar. We're the Bedrock Society." Sandra said, rolling her sleeve up.

"Wow! More hybrids like Steven? I knew it. That 'Last-of-his-kind' trope never sticks."

"That huh?"

"Hehe, sorry. I read a lot of books."

"Ok. Well, I'm Sandra. And that was Hardcore, kid." She shook her hand.

"Connie. Thanks."

"Nate." Nate said, shaking her hand.

"Nice to meet you."

"Yo that stuff was wicked. You're like a cool little knight in shining converse."

"Hehehe thanks."

"And this is the resident geek, Arno."

"Nice to meet you." Connie said putting her hand out.

His mouth is still hanging open.

"Um… are you okay?"

"You are an angel. So strong. So beautiful."

She got very red in the face. "Uhhh, Wow. That's nice."

"You can disregard that. He's shy." Nate said, pushing him back.

"Me is Lydia!" Lydia says. "Now I gots one question. Can you light this sword on fire?"

"I'd say there's a good chance."

"Lydia, please do not try to light my mom's sword on fire."

"Aww. ok."

"Say what brought you here anyway?" Dad said.

"Oh. Well, I was supposed to bring Lion back the day before yesterday, but we kinda ended up doing… a thing, after my violin performance, so I ended up getting him home late last night, and I thought you'd be mad, but nobody was home, I figured you were out on a mission, so I wanted to look, but Lion was tired so we just slept and waited till morning, then he knew you were here, but had some trouble tracking you, then he ran through here really fast until he got us over the waterfall, then… well I guess you know the rest."

"Huh. Well it was lucky you came when you did." Dad said. "You missed one heck of a ride."

"Yeah… I bet. Well anyway, I hope to be able to call you all as good a friend as Steven."

"Well if the last 3 days are any sign, Sandals won't give us a choice." Nate said.

"Why do you call him Sandals?"

"Because I am a Bedrock, Connie." I say confidently.

"Cool."

"We should leave before more arrive." Garnet says.

"By the way Greg?" Sandra said. "We'll need a long cool down time till our next camping trip."

"Yeah. Me too."

With that said, we hopped the fence, and got on the second warp pad leaving in groups. Garnet and Sandra, Pearl Arno and dad, Amethyst Nate and Lydia, Me Connie and Lion. I can't wait to see what happens next.

 **End of episode 5**

 **End of introduction arc**


	6. Cage the Elephant

**Training arc**

 **Steven Universe:**

 **The Bedrock Society**

 _Episode 6: Cage the Elephant_

 **N.** L A S BR

I warp into the garage of the Bedrock Society's clubhouse. It's been over a month since we started being friends and training together, and I have to come in every once in a while to see how they're coming along. Or just play with them. But I brought my clipboard and nerd glasses to look official. Well, they're really Connie's old glasses that have no lenses, but they still bring the look together.

They aren't here in the garage, but there are some new paintings on the walls. Like some prettier versions of the monsters we fought. And some dummies and punching bags A made. I checked the jewel room, and they aren't there either. But I'm glad to see they finally got around to taking down the broken Gems that used to be corrupted Gem monsters, leaving a few empty spaces on the walls. N's dirtbike and L's scooter are still in the corner, so the only places they could be are their rooms or the roof. I get up to the roof, and there they are. They're both near the back edge, L's sitting on a skateboard, dipping a golf ball into a jar of the fire jelly she made. N is standing next to her with a beat up old golf club, gearing up for a swing. She uses her heat to light the ball on fire, tosses it to Him, and he drives the ball into the river. He whistles, impressed with himself, and she claps her hands. When she stops, he motions her to keep going. She claps in a steady rhythm, he bobs his head, and he starts rapping into the clubs handle like a mic.

"Believe this.

We much more than heathens.

See the fire we breathin?

Or the rage be seathin?

That's a symptom of the warrior's

Heart that's beatin.

Keep tellin us we don't belong.

We prove ya wrong.

Step right up and show you know The real way to be strong.

I don't know the right way,

But I know it ain't this.

Waitin on ya hand and feet?

I ain't at yo service.

You think you're better than me?

Overconfidence.

I can go my own way;

I got the compass.

Horsepower in my knees

I go the whole distance.

So spare me the nonsense.

I causin a ruckus

When I throw up my rock-fist!

Knock you to the clouds

You goin up like rockets!

I drop this

On yo office!

My offence

Is Too flawless!

You da one who brought This!

Tisk. Tisk.

I won't feel sorry when the rock hits.

BOOM! BOOM!

That's the sound when the rock hits.

BOOM! BOOM!

And you ain't never ever stop this.

BEDROCK!"

She woohooed and they laughed. He's really good. Just wish he'd rap about something other than fighting sometimes.

I walk up to them.

"Stand at attention, winners!" I say in a nasaly voice.

They turn their attention to me.

"AAAAH! STEVIEE!" Lydia screams. She darts over to me on her skateboard and stops just before she hugs me. Keeping her arms down.

The board keeps rolling.

"Hi." she says.

I hug her myself. We spin around and laugh.

"Heyo, Sand-O's." Nate says.

"Hi, Nathan!" I walk over with L on my shoulders. I can't feel her weight at all.

"What are you guys up to?" I ask, fist bumping N.

L hops down. "Golfing. Pouty rapping." She says.

"I'm not pouty." N says.

Oh he is VERY pouty. Since S found out he was stealing he's not allowed to go out anywhere without supervision. Even if that supervision is from some " _whiny, snot nosed, brats"_ as he has described me L and A.

"That's cool. But, isn't that the bag of golf balls you needed to sell from that diving job?"

L dips another one.

"Well, I took 'em in, guy didn't like the way I cleaned 'em, I said if you're so smart, why don't you clean 'em, he didn't like my attitude, I said screw you, and he told me to leave."

This is a typical day for him.

"So, PULL!"

"Stay back, Stevie!" She lit her ball up, tossed it, and he drove it.

"Ok, well I guess you can always get them back, and clean them better, And sell them to someone else, later."

"Whatever."

"Are you playing Secko-terry again, Stevie?"

"Secretary, miss." I say, nasally again. "I have come to… assess your, progress. What is the status of your…. Um…. Progress? Sir?"

"That was almost smart, buddy."

"Well come on. did you do the invisible thing right yet or what?" I say normally, but really excited to see.

"Yeah I think I got it down."

He holds the golf club up in front of his face, and concentrates. He strains hard, and the club glitches a bit. Me and Lydia lean closer. Finally, he exhales, and the club turns Invisible without him. Me and L jump and cheer out loud.

"YEAH! You did it!"

A second later the club comes back.

"( _sigh_ ) Yeah, I can only do it for a few seconds, though."

"( _Nasally_ ) Well it is still mighty exceptional sir." I write in my notes. _'getting there with objects.'_

"But I can do this pretty well." He then turns his head and neck invisible, but leaves his mouth. He starts chattering his teeth going "RAKAKAKAKAKA!"

I jumped back from the shock, but then laughed it off. His face came back and he chuckled too. L didn't see that. There's a dragonfly.

I write _'great with body parts.'_ But it's really great that he's actually getting somewhere with the objects. If he could turn other things invisible just by touching them, it could really save someone's life one day. Better than him having to smother someone with his whole body.

"( _Nasally_ ) And as for you missy?"

L is juggling 4 flaming golf balls. "Hahaha! I have done nothing productive all week!"

"( _Nasally_ ) Spectacular!" I write _'Lydia is Lydia.'_ I put away my clipboard and glasses. "Well, that's all for this report. Wanna hang out?"

"Sure, but we're pretty bored to tears around here. There's nothing to do. PULL!" Nate reared back for a big swing.

L threw her balls at him, and he spun wicked fast. All 4 went into the river.

"This doesn't look boring."

"Yeah, I said that like 4 hours ago."

"You've been doing this for 4 hours?"

"Give or take. We don't have watches."

"Well why don't you guys come to Beach City with me? I haven't showed you around town yet."

"I don't think so, kid. I'm not feeling too good today."

"Really? You're good enough to do that spin attack."

"Well I'm not good enough travel all the way to Beach City."

"You have a warp pad down stairs."

"Such a long walk. Yep. Can't do it."

"I'll go!" L says.

"Great, but we can't leave him alone, remember?"

"Aww. Please N? Can we go?"

"Look I'm sure there's less to do there than there is here, L. What's the point?"

"Well…. ( _sigh_ ) Ok look, here's the thing. Pearl's… kinda noticed you avoided your last training session."

"Oh, whoopsie. I've been caught." He said sarcastically.

"She doesn't want you to fall behind."

"So?"

"So she said if you aren't busy, then I should come get you."

"Ooooooh, N's in trouble again!"

"Can it."

"Come on if you don't go, she's gonna come and get you."

"I'll just cloak like I always do."

"Why don't you wanna go? What happened on your two first training sessions?"

"Nothing. It was hard, that's all."

"Training is supposed to be hard, you lazy butt."

"Well, I'm better at doing it on my own. Plus, you saw how bad I was at that trick. We're just gonna do the same stupid stuff again."

"I don't want you to fall behind either. You made a deal. You all did."

"I don't want to right now, alright? I'll go tomorrow, I swear. Just do me a solid and let it slide, huh? Make some excuse? Please?"

I don't know about this. He shouldn't slack on his training, but even though he doesn't say it out loud, he's really unsure of himself. So I guess I can let it go just once. And hey, I can at least get him to hang out. Maybe I can talk him into it by the end of the day.

"Well, ok. But only if you come to beach city to hang."

"Um, isn't that a little conta-in… uh, counter-intro… count… cun… uuhh.."

"Counterintuitive?"

"It's a bad idea! Smart guy."

"We can sneak around Pearl easy. Like Batman, right?"

"Yeah. Batman." He says like he just got inspired. "A'ight I'm down." He dropped the club and we started walking.

"Wait. Should we leave L alone?" I asked.

"Oh right." He says. "L, give it 3."

"Okie dokie!" She said, still sitting there.

"What does that mean?"

"She's gonna wait 3 minutes before coming in after us."

"Why?"

"Because if Pearl's there, she'll rat me out."

"Oh. Good thinking."

 **~BR~**

We came through the warp pad, and the house is completely empty. But N's still invisible just in case. We tiptoe through the house all stealthy like. I have my shirt pulled over my head like a cowl. This is easy. Pearl and A are probably still fixing the van at Dad's car wash. As long as we stay away from that general area, we should be out of the wood OOOooohhh Kayy, nevermind! They just walked through the door!

N gasped quickly and we tensed up and froze. At least it's a safe bet he did.

Pearl and Arno stepped through to door covered in oil. A's wearing a grey t-shirt and some green protective goggles. Pearl just took off a welder's mask.

"Oh hello, Steven." she said.

"Hi Steven." He said.

"Uhh, Hi Pearl! And uhh, A!"

"Are you ok?"

I suddenly realised my shirt collar is around my head and quickly pull it down. "Yeah! Fine! Nothing! Not suspicious!"

"Um… alright. Did you get the report back from the others?"

"Yep! they're doing great! Weren't you guys working on the van?"

"Of course. We just came in to get more supplies."

As they went to the counter, we started inching our way gingerly towards the door.

"I actually thought Nathan was with you when we walked in." A said.

"Oh yes. Weren't you supposed to fetch him to make up his training?" Pearl said, wiping oil from her head and neck.

"Uhh, yeah. No. You can't see him. I-I MEAN, I couldn't see him. I MEAN, he was nowhere to…. Be seen! Hehehe"

"Really? You said you got their reports."

"Uhh… uhhh… Lydia told me his!" good save Steven. We're scooting faster.

"Is that so?"

"Yep! He must be out on another job or something."

"Well…( _sniff_ ) then what's that awful smell?"

We stopped dead in our tracks. She's onto us. Just keep it cool. Gotta distract them.

"Uhhh, it's probably yourselves. How is it with the van, by the way?"

She raised an eyebrow in suspicion for a second, then turned smiley. "Really well, actually. Arno here is a true genius."

"Aww, no I am not. It was a no brainer, what to do with those heat exchangers."

"Oh don't be so modest. To know so much at your age, is remarkable. I have a hard time keeping up with him."

I manage to get my hand on the door…

"Oh. And Garnet was a big help today."

Aw crud. I can just feel Nate stop and pay full attention.

"She was helping us lift the van."

"Um, what?" A asks. Pearl puts a finger over his mouth.

"Oh, but I just feel so bad for it. It was sooo hard for her. All that bending, flexing, straining, grunting and moaning with the effort…"

Oh my gosh Pearl I know what you're doing please don't do this.

I'm pretty sure N just dropped his jaw.

"And the absolute worst? Oh poor thing. I accidentally cut a cord, and oil just spilled all over her."

A is completely confused.

Now I think N just put his hand over his mouth to suppress some kind of noise. Please if you know what's good for you don't freak out.

"Yes, she got thoroughly drenched. You should have seen her, Steven. Garnet was an absolute mess. All wet, and slick and shiny, and--"

It's over. Nate just reappeared, red as an apple, grasping his mouth like a vice making a high pitched growling noise.

"AH HAH! I KNEW IT!" Pearl exclaims.

"AWW CRAP ON A STICK!" Nate says, face palming.

Arno starts rolling on the floor cracking up.

"Umm…. WOW!" I say. Every man for himself, now. "Gosh! I can't even- LOOK! He was right here next to me! Like the whole time! Who'da thunk it!?"

"( _mumbling_ ) yousunuva-YO! BALLET GNOME! How uhh….. how ya doin?"

"I honestly didn't think Sandra's advice was going to work." She said to Arno. "Nathan. You know you need to keep up with the training schedule. No one gets left behind. Now come on. We are going to make it up now."

"Right! ( _clap_ ) yeah. 'bout that. Uhh…" He says.

"He can't!" I say.

"Nope!"

"He uhh, he's not feeling well!"

"( _COUGH COUGH_ ) Awful. ( _HACK_ ) awful sickness."

"Yep! Just no condition to train."

"Yeah. Uhh, I just… snuck over here…"

"COMPLETELY unbeknownst to me!"

"( _Mumble_ ) real trooper kid. Yeah, barely scraped myself outta bed, just to uhh, grab a cough drop, out of his pill cabinet. So I'll just ( _HACK_ ) Just uhh, grab me one, and get outta y'all's hair, Immediately. But real talk. Is that oily Garnet a thing? Like a real thing? Where can I see that at?"

Without warning, Pearl is less that a foot away from Nate, and her spear is a centimeter from his throat. Scared the pants off of everyone. All the oil patches on Pearl are now gone, and splattered all over the living room.

"We are supposed to work on improving your combat technique." she said, scarily serious. "If I were an enemy, a cough drop would not even begin to cover the damage I'd do to you. Do you understand?"

This plan fell apart so fast.

I feel around the back of my pants. Jus…. Just to make sure.

After another few seconds of looking into her cold eyes, Nathan drops his arms.

"( _Sigh_ ) Yes."

Pearl pulls her spear back and stands a bit more peppy. "Splendid! Onto the warp pad, then."

Suddenly L comes through the warp pad, and falls right on her face. Then hops right back up. "HI PEARL! don't mind me! Me N and Stevie are really NOT sneaking by you to…."

We just stare at her.

"Oh. You already know."

Pearl walked by and rubbed her hair. "You may help Arno clean up darling. We can resume in a few hours, Arno." She stands on the warp pad.

Nate slumps.

"Some Batman." I say.

"Shutty…" he says back.

We get on the warp pad.

"Good luck, N." A says.

For his sake, hopefully this will be quick.

 **~BR~**

We're about 30 minutes into training at the arena. N just took out the last of 4 holo Pearls, with one of A's new makeshift axes. He seemed a little happy that he's not doing the invisibility stuff today, but he's having some trouble doing what Pearl asks him to do.

"That was better, but you still need to pull your weight back to keep your balance."

"Oh my god. Will you make up your mind, woman?"

"What do you mean?"

"First it's _'Go through your opponent!'_ And every time, I clearly do it, I'm apparently NOT doing it."

"Not doing it right."

"Oh please. Next you say, _'Pull your weight back'._ Well which one is it? Do I go for it, or not? What does this magical technique look like?"

"( _sigh_ ) you are missing the point. You don't do either." she makes 2 holo pearls and makes them face each other. She has one lunge at the other to demonstrate. "No matter how you attack, ballance is always the key. You must keep your stance-"

"( _Groan_ ) What is the point of this? What's so hard about swish swish stab? I've never….. I have seldom lost a fight like that."

"You've fought other terrible fighters. Sandra says she was trained by her father growing up, and what happened when you met?"

"She lied! It was a tie! A forfeit at worst!"

"It's ok N! I believe you!" I said from the seats.

"Oh no you don't!"

"Regardless, your style has far too many holes for you to stand a chance against true enemies. You throw yourself into danger with reckless abandon. You must learn how to hold back. Fight smarter."

"Well maybe I'd have more incentive if you put me against something other than these stupid holograms. These things are too easy, and Predictable."

"Wh-what? They are not the problem. I set them to the highest difficulty for beginners. Just ask Steven, Connie, or even Lydia."

"They are 10. You only train 10 year olds."

"What? Steven is 14, Connie is 12, and….. are you sure about Lydia's age?"

N just looks at her with an eyebrow raised.

"Oh… Steven? You don't think my holo Pearls are easy do you?"

"What? No no. They're crazy tough. You know when there's like, 5. Or 10. Or… heh. 20..."

Pearl's cheeks flushed, and she just made the holo pearls go away.

"( _sigh_ ) Fine. If it will help my lessons sink in, what would you prefer to fight?" She said slightly irritated. "Shall I bring a corrupted monster out of its bubble and just let it rampage and destroy the whole arena?"

"As funny as that sounds, I got a better idea. How's about I take on…. The real Pearl?"

"Huh?" she said.

"Huh?" I said.

"Yeah. I'm what you call a hands on learner. Let's have a spar, and I'll see for myself how to do it right."

"Well… it isn't quite that simple. I am a trained warrior with thousands of years of experience. Even holding back, I might be a bit too advanced for someone like you."

"Well I gotta fight other guys like you right? What do I have to lose?"

"I think It's worth a shot." I say.

"I don't think so. It's probably best to focus on the proper training methods, like everyone else."

"C'mon, gnome. You know you wanna fight me. Unless… you're scared."

"Scared? ( _giggle_ ) Please. There is a long list of things that frighten me, and you are absolutely not on it."

"I dunno. I see a lot of CHICKEN legs before me." he starts flapping his wings and clucking. "B-B-B-B'CAWW! B-B'CAW! B-B-B'CAAAW!"

"Nice try, Nathan. But the chicken thing didn't work all the times Steven did it to me, and it is not gonna work with you."

"Okay, then how about a Peridot thing? B-B-B-B'CLODD! B-B'CLOD! B-B--"

"ALRIGHT THAT TEARS IT! You wanna fight? Let's fight!"

"B'CLOPY! I-I mean copy."

"WOO HOO! You got it Nathan!" gosh I hope Pearl doesn't seriously hurt him.

They put their weapons away, and stood 12 feet apart. N was in his fighting stance, and Pearl just stood with her arms behind her back.

"Remember, Nate. This is merely an exercise in defense, stance, and precision. You are to find the best ways to attack me without leaving yourself open."

"Yeah, yeah. Let's just get it on."

"Hm. Since you're so eager, you throw the first strike."

"A'ight. But I don't hold back. Not even against women."

"Good. I wish I could make the same promise, but you're only human."

Oof.

That made Nate's smirk disappear. He lunged lightning quick at Pearl, and I thought he made contact with her face, but she put her hand up just in time to stop it. Her hand was flat, rigid, and unmoving.

"Good speed," She said. "But you telegraphed."

He jumped back and shook off his hand. "Pretty stiff hand for a chick so dainty."

"You'll find all Gems to be full of surprises. Again."

N moved in low, and came up with a right cross. She caught his fist. Then he went for a leg sweep with his left, but she stopped it with her right shin. She wrapped her ankle around his calf, pushed it to her left, and with the same motion, pulled his arm to her right. Twisting him in 2 ways, and taking him off his feet. She spins around, and he falls hard on his shoulder.

"Once again you sacrifice your defensive position for a finishing blow."

N gets up, and whips his hair out of his face, seething with rage.

"Come on N!" I say. "Just stay calm and you can do it!"

N takes a deep breath, and rushes her again. Pearl gets in a defensive stance, but he stops just in front of her and does nothing for 2 seconds, then wraps his arms around her head, and goes for a knee to her gut. But she blocks that, pushes the kee down, steps on his foot, tucks his arm under her armpit, and thrusts her other palm up under his chin. I winced because I thought she hit him, but she stopped just as she touched it.

"That could have been a knockout. But that was much better. Now you're thinking. Just think harder."

She again sweeps his leg, but when he falls he catches himself and starts spinning upside down kicking his legs out. This looks like that Capo-something Connie talked about. That break dance fighting. But it doesn't work on Pearl, who dodges and tries to sweep his arms. But he pops back to his feet, goes for some jump kicks, some punches, back elbows, and she blocks or dodges everything.

She catches both of his fists. "Stop going all out. You're too emotional, and expending too much energy."

"I fight how I WANT!"

They spin around together like a dance, but she doesn't let go. When they face each other again, he kicks their arms apart, and spins again. He goes for a backfist, but she swipes it away.

But her face rocks back and she spins on her heels like she just got hit. I didn't see anything hit her. She holds her face and looks really confused. And I look back at N and notice something. His left arm is gone. It fades back in as he cracks his knuckle.

"Well looks like one of your lessons works."

Pearl looked pretty frustrated, but she composed herself. "Very clever tactic. That's great. But remember, this is an exhibition to improve your combat technique. You shouldn't rely on your powers for this."

"Oooh sounds like somebody mad they got got!"

"I am not upset that I _'got got'_. Just impressed and surprised is all. I am your teacher, and I only want you to do it right."

"Grrrrr Maybe, I already AM!"

He rushes her invisible. She tries to follow his footsteps, looking around for him.

"Nathan, did you hear a word I said!?"

He reappears just long enough to see him kick her right in the butt. She kicks at the air behind her, and he pops up again to jam his fingers into her armpit, causing her to yelp and jump. She tries to predict his next move, and leg sweeps behind her. But he reappears in the same spot he already was in, taps her shoulder, she swings wildly, he ducks, and Picks her nose hard before disappearing again.

I am trying really hard to not bust up laughing. This is so not the right thing to do, but it is so very funny.

"Stop this foolishness!"

The air punches her in the face, and he comes back, and kicks her in her kidney area. Knocking her to her knees.

"Why? I'm hitting you in the best possible way without leaving myself open. Isn't that what _YOU_ wanted?"

"GAAAH! Why will you not take this seriously!?"

"Oh take what seriously? This half baked training from some pompous string bean ballerina garden gnome who thinks she's better than me!?"

"Stop…. Calling… me…. A GNOOOOOME!"

Uh oh.

She darts to him, and punches and kicks him so fast in so many places I can't even see where her limbs are going. The only one I could see was the last uppercut she nails him with. She sends him flying, flipping, and he lands right on the back on the back of his neck. This is what I was afraid of.

Pearl jumps high screaming, and comes down over him.

"PEARL!" I shout trying to stop her.

She's coming down, and I can't watch. I hear the thud and cringe. I peek with just one eye. Then look fully. She's standing over him, with her feet on either side of his head. They are both breathing heavy with bitter rage etched on their faces. Staring into each other's eyes.

I am so relieved she didn't kill him, but this has gotten way too out of hand. I rush down to pull them apart.

"Pearl stop!" I say, pulling her away from him. "Look he really wasn't feeling right, it wasn't a good day for this. Let's just pick this up some other time, ok?" I look to Nate as he sits up clutching his neck. His face is covered in welts, cuts, and frustration. Pearl's just has frustration.

She closes her eyes, dusts herself off, and stands straight and proper with her arms behind her back. "Remember what you've learned today, and practice makes perfect. We're done here." she walked away. I helped N up.

 **~BR~**

I just finished healing him up on the couch, in his new grey skull t shirt that replaces the white one that he threw away in the jungle. He seems to need this more than the others, In spite of him making no secret of hating my spit on his body. We sat there for a while not saying a word. I'm kind of afraid to ask about all that. Was Pearl the whole reason he didn't wanna train? Did she do something last time? I get It's probably not all her fault. He is pretty difficult. But he wouldn't just avoid training altogether for no reason. Ok I gotta ask.

"Were you guys like that last time too?"

He just shrugged.

"( _Sigh_ ) I'm sorry we couldn't sneak around her like you wanted, but you shouldn't have said those things to each other."

He sort of nodded.

"She just wants to teach you how to fight right. The least you could do is try to listen to her. Then maybe she'll be a little bit nicer--"

"Y-you know what? Forget it." He said standing up and putting his hoodie back on. "Just uh, y'know? Why don- why don't we just like, get outta here, huh?" He's real jittery. "Go see the town, like ya wanted."

"Really?"

"Yeah, why not? Let's go nuts. We can find something better than sitting in here."

"Oh. Ok."

"Yeah! Come on L!"

She stopped playing patty cake with Arno and jumped at us. "YIPPIE!"

We walk out of my house and reach the boardwalk. Well me and N are walking, while L either skips, cartwheels, handwalks, or moonwalks. N has his hood up for some reason.

"So there's lots of stuff to do here in Beach City that I think will really get you to like the place." I say. "Where do you guys wanna start?"

"I dunno, something crazy." N says. "Like, raiding parking meters."

"Spray Painting!" L says.

"Smashing glass bottles with pipes!"

"Light something on fire!"

"Turn on indoor sprinklers and slip N' slide on the floor!"

"Hmm. Hmm." I say. "Those are… tempting options. But, how about we look at the ones that don't involve breaking stuff first? Like, we could see the Big Donut, the Citywalk Fries, Fish Stew Pizza, the arcade, the amusement park, or we could see what my friends are up to. Like the cool kids. Wait. I can't see Sour Cream yet. Well maybe…."

I just noticed N wasn't even listening to a word I was saying. He was just looking around at everyone on the boardwalk, both confused and worried.

I tap him to get his attention. "Hey. Is something wrong."

"Huh? No. Well, yeah. I mean, it's…. Nobody is…. Staring at me."

"What?" I looked around, and he's right. Not that I was even surprised by that. Well, I would've thought people would be worried about him with his hood up, but even then nobody is looking our way. "Yeah, I guess. Do you want them to?"

"No No. It's just… weird. Whatever. Forget I said it. What were you saying?"

"Um, well I just thought. You seem like you need to blow off some steam, so how about the arcade?"

"Ok cool."

"Yeah! Getcha game on!"

"Alright! You're gonna love this."

We get to mr Smiley's, I get a bunch of tokens, and show them some games.

"Say, what gives?" L says. "Where are my favorite games? Pong. Asteroid. Or SPACE INVADERS!"

"Lydia, when was the last time you were even in an arcade?" I ask.

"I dunno. It's been a while tho."

"Well it must've been a pretty old place. These games are more new. OOH! Like Teens of Rage! That one's brand new. Garnet broke their last one. I think that's just your style, Nate. Come on."

They're not good at the game, but they have fun together for a bit. Nate rage quits a few times, Lydia just keeps spamming the fire flip kick until it stops working, and eventually they get bored.

They can never beat me at pinball, but they do pretty well.

We go to the motorcycle racers, and they both completely own me.

We play ski ball and N gets maybe every third ball dead center, earning a ton of tickets. He doesn't care for it and leaves it pretty quickly.

I show L Busta Move 5 Thouzand, and she absolutely kills it. Never missing an arrow, dancing on her feet, her hands, and singing to all the songs.

"Don't you want me, baby? Don't you want me? OOOOOOOOHHHHHHHH!

Don't-"

I just leave her to that with some coins and show N other games.

"So…" he says, looking hesitantly at this next game. "Meat. Beat. Mania?"

"Yeah. It's cool huh?"

"I…. How was this even approved?"

"What do you mean?"

"UUhhhhh….. meat. as a game seems uh, pretty stupid right? Hehehe"

"Yeah, kind of. I just remember how it hypnotized Garnet for a day."

"And now she's the reason I- nevermind. So that's why the high score is like that?"

"Yep. She only stopped when I broke it. But, I don't think you're gonna have that problem. Just wave the drumsticks at the targets when it tells you. It'll feel like fighting, right?"

"Alright, but first I'll need some candles."

"Why?"

"Just a joke."

"I Don't get it."

"Good. Drumstick me."

"Ok."

I gave him the meat, some coins, and left him alone.

I went back to L, and she isn't at the dance game anymore. I find her at the prize counter. She's mesmerized by this neat looking toy. It's like one of those cymbal playing monkeys, but has a violin and the bow in its hands. And it has a cool mustache and suit on.

"Wow. That must be new too."

"Must…. Have….." she's practically drooling. "Stevie, how much does it say it costs?"

"it says right there."

"I can't read."

"Oh. It says 30 thousand."

"Tell me you have 30 thousand tokens on you."

"No, it actually costs 30 thousand tickets."

"Ok, then how many does N have?"

"I think around 50."

"We gotta get more!"

"Well, i'm actually running out of tokens."

"AAAHH I WANT THAT MONKEY!" She yells, banging on the glass. She starts steaming, and so does the floor under her.

"Lydia!" I say trying to calm her.

But when I put my hand up, she thought I was trying to grab her. So she immediately stopped steaming, and took a huge side step away from me.

"I'm sorry." she says. I walk over slowly. She turns away, looks down, and holds her left arm with her right hand.

"Hey. There's no reason to get down. We can save our tickets and get it later." she tries to move again, but I grab her shoulder and turn her to face me. "Lets just enjoy a few more games and leave, huh?"

She hesitantly nods her head.

"Wanna dance some more?"

She shakes her head.

"racing?"

She shakes her head.

"Ok. Then why don't you go find something else you wanna play and get back to me?"

She nods her head, and walks away.

I go around to see what I want to play next. I hear N start reciting the um, _"Sailor's code"_ At Meat Beat Mania, so I go further. I browse. I think about whacker Man, Hangry Rhinos, even that weird thing where you squirt the clown in the mouth. But for some reason, I'm just not feeling it anymore. The only thing on my mind is the Bedrocks. Is N having fun? Is L still upset? Have they broken anything? Should I check on them? Wow is this how the Gems feel? AM I BECOMING PEARL!? oh boy. At any rate, I better check on them or it'll kill me.

I search for L but I can't find her.

I go back to MBM. N put the drumsticks back, and is waiting by the entrance.

"Can we go now?" He asked.

"I thought you were having fun."

"I'm not anymore."

"Ok. Where's L?"

"You got me."

Just then, I heard Mr Smiley scream from the other end of the arcade.

"( _Sigh_ ) Give ya three guesses." N said.

I told him to wait there and ran to check it out. I found L and Smiley at the prize counter. L's on the countertop, and Smiley's on the floor, and they're playing tug O' war with the monkey thing.

"Lydia stop!"

She immediately let go of the toy and fell off the counter, and I caught her.

"Steven! You know this girl?"

"Wh-what did she do?" I let her go.

"She was trying to take this novelty orchestral monkey. ( _mutters_ ) batteries not included. How you gonna just let your friends steal things Steven?"

"No wait! I'm sure she didn't mean to do that. L, why would you do that?"

"I just… really wanted it."

Oh boy.

"Well, I'm sure she's very sorry for it."

"Come on, Steven! you and your friends break my stuff almost ritually, and now they stealing? She's probably the same person taking from my crane machine all the time!"

"What? No. That was Onion."

"Oh. man I knew that rascal was no good."

"Look I'm sorry. Please forgive her for this. She's just really confused and excitable. I won't let her do this again."

"Nu-uh. I've had it up to here. I'm gonna have to think of a suitable punishment for this to set an example."

"Hey chuckles." N said, coming up from behind. "Why don't you leave the kid alone, and pick on someone your own size? Like, I dunno. Sasquatch?"

"And who are you now?"

"I'm the guy that gave her permission to take your toy."

"What?" I said.

"WHAT!?" Smiley said.

"Yeah. You wanna threaten someone, threaten me."

"Who do you think you are? Coming in here thinkin' you can do whatever you want."

"Who do _You_ think _You_ are? Bribing kids with these dumb games, takin' 'em for all they got, with the promise of these tickets that ain't worth what they cost, then pawning this dollar store crap on them and calling it a prize. They leave with less than they came in with."

"Hey! My arcade is nonstop fun at adequate prices for the whole family, buster. If you don't like it, you can get out or I can kick you out."

"Yeah you and what army? All the employees you don't have? Look you still got your trash, so no harm, no foul. So why don't you forget this before you embarrass yourself more?"

"YOU- Grrrrrrrr…… I'm feeling generous, so I'm letting the kids off with a warning. But you better not show up here again. Now leave before I change my mind."

"Pff. Fine. We outta here anyway. Come on, L. Let's blow this dump."

"Yeah! Begone, Bigfoot!" L says.

He took her hand and they went to the door.

"Yeah go on! I don't need your trouble anyway!"

"Whatever! Go play some Meat Beatin' with your dumb self!"

"Maybe I will! My games are very relaxing! Goodbye!" He stood strongly with confidence, until he was out of sight. "( _sigh_ ) Maybe I should start hiring security."

I tap him on the shoulder. "Again. I'm really sorry."

"Yeah I know. Just keep an eye on that girl, Steven. You're a much better influence than him."

"Hehe. Will do, Mr Smiley. See you later."

 **~BR~**

I walk out of the arcade, and they are around the corner waiting for me. As soon as I see Nate, I wanna fold him like a taco! It's not enough to anger Pearl but Mr Smiley too? Are you kidding me!? Grrrrr…( _sigh_ ) no. Fighting with him more won't solve anything. I'll just try to talk to him about it rationally.

We started walking.

"Well," N said. "I think that went well."

Rational, Steven. Rational.

"Nathan, what did you do?" I say politely.

"Huh?"

"Did you really tell her to steal that toy, or were you just protecting her?"

"Well…. Kinda yes, kinda no?"

"What does that mean?"

"Ok look. So she came up to me and said something about a monkey she really wanted, and I was in the zone on that meat game, so I wasn't paying attention, and I might have said _'Whatever. If you want it, go get it. I don't care.'_ Then she said something else, jumped around, and left."

"Why would you tell her that?"

"Because I can. I Don't see what the big deal is."

"Well for starters, you could have gotten us in some real trouble."

"Well ya didn't, and that's cause I bailed you out. You're welcome."

"But _you_ did. Doesn't that bother you?"

"Nah. I get it all the time."

"( _Sigh_ ) You know you're not supposed to steal stuff."

"I Didn't, she did. And it wasn't money, it was just a stupid toy."

"But how does that make it any better?"

"That guy and his stupid arcade were playing us for chumps. Bad, expensive games, worthless so-called priz-"

"Nathan. I Don't think he meant to hurt anyone. It's just supposed to be fun. Couldn't you have at least tried to have some fun?"

"Believe it or not, I was trying. But what was the point if I wasn't gonna gain anything from it? If she wanted something, why shouldn't she just have it?"

"Why do you have to gain anything? Or why couldn't you at least have asked me to try to buy it?"

"That's my point. Why should you have to spend more of your money on that jerk?"

"Because I want to. Look you can't keep doing stuff like this. It's wrong, and you almost got me kicked out of there.

"( _Scoff_ ) You try to do something nice, and-"

"N please! I'm serious. Don't do it anymore ok?"

"Alright. Jeez, I won't."

"Are you sure? I don't wanna have to get S to--"

"I. Will. Not. I swear. I mean, I'm always just following orders. What's one more, right?"

"Well thank you."

"But uhh, you're gonna have to tell her that."

I look over to Lydia. She's walking hunched over, and has a very sad look on her face. I know they aren't bunny ears, but I swear her pigtails are drooping lower than usual. Aw man. I didn't even consider her feelings.

I go to her side and put my hand on her back. "Are… you doing ok?"

"( _Sniff_ ) Smiley's a big mean buttface."

"Yeah. Sometimes. But mostly he's pretty nice. He's just being protective is all."

"I really want the monkey."

"I know. But you know stealing is wrong. At least we can still go back. We'll win a bunch of tickets next time, or maybe I'll just ask if I can buy it off him. Ok?"

She nods her head. "I'm hungry."

"Ok. Let's get you guys something to eat. And N? Try to behave yourself this time, Ok?"

He just rolls his eyes and shrugs. I don't know if that's good or not. If he's gonna keep training without driving the Gems crazy, I should start by teaching him some good manners.

I take them to Fish Stew Pizza, and we get in line. L jumped for joy when she heard the word Pizza.

"Why here?" N asks. "You already bought the arcade stuff, why don't we just get something from your house?"

"Nah, I like pizza. And I basically just got sandwiches and mac and cheese."

"Ok."

"Besides. I know the girls here, and I think you should try to make friends with them."

"Oh good. So we're In school outside of school, huh?"

"It's not training, it's just a good skill that everyone should have. I don't want you to keep having the problems you've been having today."

"Do I have to?"

"You do if you wanna eat."

"Well I ain't hungry."

L climbs up his chest, grabs his collar, and buries her face into his, with the meanest look ever.

"Actually," he says. "Suddenly starving."

She gets back on the floor.

"Then you're doing it." I say. "Or at least just try to get through a good greeting. In fact, take your hood off."

"( _Sigh_ ) Whatever." He takes his hood off.

We get to the front counter, where Kiki is just putting something away before she looks up at us.

"Hi, welcome to Fish Stewwwwwww uuuuhhhh…." She trailed off and blushed, looking up at N with her mouth open. Not... quite how I saw this going.

Nate looked down at me confused.

"( _Whispering_ ) Say hello. And nothing else."

He looked up and gritted his teeth. "Hhhello."

Kiki shook her head. "Oh! HI! HI! W-welcome to Fiki, I'm Kish Stew Pizza!" She Blurts out, nervously. I think she likes him already, like him when he met Garnet. This is good.

"What the he--" N started. I hit him with my elbow before he continued.

"( _Whispering_ ) Don't be mean, be supportive."

He gestures _"How?"_.

"( _whispering_ ) Politely correct her."

"Um… Do you mean, Fish Stew Pizza?"

"Oh Yeah! ( _clears throat_ ) uhh, That's what I meant. Yes. Hehehehe."

"Hi Kiki." I say.

"Yeah. So um, what's your name, sir?"

"Um, Nathan?"

"Oh c-cool name. I… I…"

"Kiki?"

"Yup! Haha. So…. You new in town?"

"There's Pizza at the end of this greeting, right?"

I tapped him with my elbow again.

Jenny came to the counter and bumped Kiki to the side. "Hi boys! My baby sis ain't giving y'all trouble is she?"

"No," I say. "I'm just Showing my friend Nate around."

"OOOOOH, look at this white boy! You look like fresh provolone, fam. Hahaha!"

What did yo--?" he growls.

I squeeze his hand real tight.

"Oh I'm just playin'. You good. And kinda cute. What'll it be guys?"

L hopped up to the counter. "I WANT A PIZZA WITH PEPPERONI AND CHOCOLATE AND PICKLES AND PEANUT BUTTER AND--"

"Whoa whoa! Slow your roll honey! We don't got all that. How 'bout we just start with pepperoni and work up from there?"

"Aww. Ok."

"That sounds good." I Say.

"I don't like pepperoni. Too greasy." N says.

Oh right. He's picky.

"Ok, blasphemer." Jenny says. "What do you like than?"

This could take longer than I thought.

"Fish?"

"Oh well heck! We got lots of fish. Can I put y'all down for 1 large, half pepperoni, half anchovies?"

"cool."

Oh. I stand corrected.

"Y'know not a lot of people like fish on their pizza around here." Jenny says.

"Up in Jersey, you gotta get used to it." N says.

"I love fish." Kiki says.

"Since when, tho?" Jenny says.

"Can we get 3 medium root beers too?" I ask.

"Sure thing. Anything else?"

I look to them. L nods her head really hard. N grabs her head and shakes it.

"I think we're good."

"Alright. That'll be 20 dollars even."

"whoa ain't that a little expensive?" N said.

"Well not as much as other places around here. But pizza don't grow on trees, you know."

"Except for that one dream me and Kiki had." I say. "Right Kiki?"

"You can afford it right?" Jenny says.

"Actually I'm buying."

"( _gasp_ ) Shame on you, man! Letting the kid pay for you."

"Grrrr"

"Haha! Come on, Jenny. They're new in town, so it's my treat. He doesn't have money anyway."

"GRRRRRR"

"Oh I know I'm just messin around. Your boy needs to lighten up a bit."

I look at him. His hair is covering his eyes, his jaw is clenched, and his left hand is turning red. We'd better sit down now.

I give Jenny a 20, she says to go wait at a tabe, I take N's hand and take him over.

The 3 of us sit and wait. N is looking down and beating the table with his knuckle rapidly. L is bobbing to the mellow music playing from the speakers.

"You did better than I thought you would." I say for positive reinforcement.

He's still just looking down.

"( _giggle_ ) You know when she blushed she reminded me of you when you met Garnet."

Still nothing.

"( _sigh_ ) Look. I know Jenny can be rude, but you can't be upset at a little teasing. You do that to literally everyone. Plus, I thought you didn't mind what people said about your skin."

"That ain't my problem kid."

"Oh. Then, what's the matter?"

"Forget it."

L started coloring with the paper and crayons they left on the table.

Nanefua walked over with a plate of 6 small plantain cakes, and put it on the table. "On the house." She says. "A little slice of Beach City hospitality, for Steven's new friends."

L's eyes blazed.

"Wow. Thanks Nanefua!" I went to grab one, but she smacked my hand.

"I said for friends. you still pay it forward." She stared daggers into my eyes. Then she kissed my cheek. "Byee, pumpkin." She left.

L took two and ate them.

"Don't you want one?" I ask N.

"I don't know what that is."

"It's plantain. Basically fried banana cakes. Don't knock it till you try it."

"Nah you go ahead."

"Vut ffey're so yummy!" L says with her mouth full.

She swallowed what was in her mouth. "Try it! It'll turn that frown upside down!"

"My frown's just fine the way it is L."

"Hrph." She grabs another one, and shoves it in his face. "Eat it, coal! Eat it!"

He struggles and gags, then shoves her face into the table. "Rine! Widditt!" he says with his mouth full.

I laugh at them. I look to see that she isn't watching, then grab one for myself.

Eventually the Pizza and drinks come. Lydia really likes it, and we talk a lot about her time as a street performer. Apparently, every St Patrick's day, she would dress in a kilt, green pancho and Darth Vader helmet, and rode around a unicycle while playing a flame throwing bagpipe. She doesn't remember why or how she even got that stuff. I told her about that time I went to Connie's school and fought a big snail.

N is still being quiet and showing no signs of enjoyment. He hasn't seemed to like anything since we got here. And I have to practically squish his hand off to get him to be a little nice. I have no idea what to do with him.

"Nate, Is there anything I can do? I can't help if you don't tell me what's wrong."

He swallowed the pizza in his mouth. "I don't want your help. Just forget it."

"You wanted to do something besides sit at home."

"I wanted to do something dangerous, distracting, and that doesn't cost any money."

"Well I wish I could help. That stuff gets people in trouble, and Sandra expects me to keep you out of it."

"I never have that problem in Jersey."

"Because nobody cares there. I care about Beach City. I care about you."

"Well Beach City sucks!"

A few other tables heard him and looked this way.

"Nate. That's not called for." I say calmingly.

He put his head in his hand. "( _Sigh_ ) No, no. It doesn't. I mean, it probably doesn't, but…. I don't know, man. I'm just not in the mood for this stuff."

It got quiet again, and everyone lost interest.

"What do you want to distract from?" I ask him.

"I gotta go take a leak." He gets up and goes to the bathroom.

I look to L In curiosity. She just holds up what she's been drawing. It's a tree full of fish and bananas, and a gorilla saying boo next to it.

This isn't fun anymore. I gotta really think about what's upsetting him, or I'll never get through to him.

What do I know?

•Training with Pearl's not going well.

•Finding a job isn't going well.

•He thinks about money a lot.

•We have almost none of the same interests.

•He can't talk to people.

•He doesn't feel at home here.

There has to be something I can do to make him happy here. There isn't much I can do to help with training unless he tells me what happened. But, maybe I should help him get a job. Yeah. A job that'll help him make some money, make some friends, and get him used to the city. That's three birds with one stone! And I know the perfect place for him to start.

 **~BR~**

As soon as he comes back from the bathroom, we finish up, leave, and I show him to the Big Donut.

"YAY! DESERT!" L says, seeing the big fake donut on top of the store.

"No sorry, we're not here for donuts." I tell her.

"Then why are we here?" N asks.

"Well I know you've been having problems finding work, so I thought I could try getting you a job in Beach City!" I say, posing like a showman.

L joins in the pose for no reason.

He got silent and let that hang for a bit.

"In this place?" He finally says.

"Yeah."

He turns and walks away.

I run around him. "Wait wait! Don't you need money? Isn't this what you wanted?"

"Kid, I am so over this day, and I don't wanna work at some stupid donut shop. I just wanna go home, street fight a Mad Batch member or 2, and pass out on a rooftop."

For the record, Mad Batch is the name of the dirt bike gang they have a feud with. I can't imagine how he finds that a relaxing way to spend his evening.

"We both know I can't let you do that. I just wanna help you. Why won't you let me?"

"Because I never asked you for your help."

"You did before we left earlier." L says.

"...Why you gotta bring up old stuff?"

"Look. You keep talking about money, so if you don't wanna use mine all the time, won't you need some of your own? I know you don't think it's the best, but it's better than nothing."

He thought about it.

"( _sigh_ ) I'll just grab an application and think about it."

We walked in. As usual, Lars and Sadie were at the counter waiting.

"Hi Steven. Hey guys. Welcome to the big donut." Sadie says.

"Hey." Lars says.

"Hey you guys. These are my new friends. N and L- I mean Nate and Lydia. Nate and Lydia? Lars and Sadie."

"Nice to meet you." Sadie says.

"Hi the…( _Clears throat_ )Yo! How's it hanging?... bro." Lars says putting a fist out for a bump.

N just stares. And doesn't bump it.

"... Um, cool. Cool." he pulls his arm back.

"'Ey, Busta!" L says in his face. "L's the only L 'Round here. Ya gots that bub? Wanna fight about it?"

"Um… not especially."

"Wait. L I thought you couldn't read."

"I can say Ls good! Little Larry, licked a lot of little lemons, and lays on the lawn for long, and listens…" She just gets quieter as she keeps that up.

"So..." Sadie says. "You guys want a donut?"

"Actually, N's thinking about starting work here, so we were just gonna get an application."

"Oh that's cool. We could use an extra hand." She grabs an application from under the counter.

"Pff. Yeah right." Lars says. "This place is lame. You don't wanna work here bud. Wearing these lame shirts."

"Why are you here then genius?" N asks, taking the application.

"Uhhh… if-if I could be anywhere else I would be."

"Yeah, and you usually are." Sadie says, annoyed. "One of the reasons we need more hands."

"What do y'all do here?"

"You know. Watch the counter, greet customers, make change, clean up, just usual convenience store stuff. Pretty straightforward."

"What's the pay?"

"Minimum wage. And pretty much all hours are available. Really the job's pretty easy to get. You know, as long as you don't have a criminal record or behavioral issues."

Woops.

N looks back at me. Probably knowing I don't want him to lie.

"Uh huh." N says to them. "And, what happens if I have both of those things?"

"Oh." Sadie says. "Well, Um, then you'll have to list all your past offenses, and I just call up the GM to see if you're good to go."

"Ok, ok. And, why is the Past offenses section on this so…. Small?"

"...Oh…"

I put my head in my hand. It's not like I prefer him to lie, but he's really not helping himself here. What am I saying? For him, that's probably the point.

"Hey thanks for the application Sadie." I say. "He'll fill this out right away, and I'll make sure he giv--"

"Wow you're like a hardened criminal or something?" Lars says, interrupting me. "That's pretty cool, man. Right on." he put his fist out again.

"Why do you think that's cool?" N does not bump him.

"Uhh, that's not what he means." Sadie says. "He means, you don't need to worry about your record with us."

"Yeah." I agree.

"You just said I did."

"Well, you know. Everyone has made mistakes, but it's all in the past right?"

"Mistakes?"

Now I'm worried. I quietly make the _"Cut it out"_ gesture to her.

"Say what did you get busted for?" Lars asks. "Fighting?"

"YES!" L answers for him.

"L!" I say.

"Stealing?"

"I-I don't think it's your-"

"YES!"

"Tagging?"

"Lars, cut it out. Stop prying." Sadie says. "A criminal record is nothing to be proud of."

"Excuse me?" N says, getting more ticked.

I should have been afraid of this. "Hey sorry guys, we gotta go now this is--"

"Hey a lot of great heroes have criminal pasts. Like Han Solo. Or like, any cowboy ever."

"This isn't the old west, Lars. Breaking the law and getting a record really limits people's opportunities."

"Please, I take free donuts all the time, and I'm fine."

"So does everyone else! But what if he chooses to take from the register or something?"

He clenches the fist with the application.

"You can't always judge people for that stuff. What if he broke the law for the right reasons? Like getting payback for a friend who was wronged."

"Well I don't think payback's a good enough reason. They'd both just get in trouble. How do you think the person who was 'Wronged', is gonna feel about--"

Without warning, Nathan crumpled up the application, and slammed it against the glass on the glass donut case hard enough to crack it. Bringing everyone to his attention.

"Thank you for the opportunity you bunch of R-tards." He said through gritted teeth.

He turned and stomped out of the store. Letting the application fall down.

It got real quiet for a second.

"( _groan_ ) You happy now!?" I said to them. Me and L stormed out too.

I met N who was pacing on the sidewalk.

"What was that?"

"Swear ta god, that idiot with the donut ears was gonna ask me for my autograph in 3 seconds. And who does that munchkin think she is? 'Nothing to be proud of?' It's all I know how to do!"

"Grrrrr" Rational, rational, rationa- forget it! "Look! I'm sorry they hurt your feelings, but don't insult my friends like that! They were just trying to help you."

"When did I ask for their help? Or yours? You said this place was different, but it's shoot on sight just like everywhere else!"

"Why because people say a few things you don't like? You can't keep quitting on people before they get to know you. And you can't blame them after being the biggest jerk you can be before they get the chance!"

"Oh what do you know? You have Pearl worshipping you! You never have to deal with being looked down at all the time!"

Technically I'm small so I do, but I know what he means. Wait. Pearl? "What does Pearl have to do with anything?"

"I… I meant people!" he turned away from me.

"What happened on your last training session? That's why you're so upset today right?"

"Forget it Sandals!"

I turned him back to me. "I wanna know!"

"GrrrrAGH! She wouldn't let up. No matter what I did with my cloaking powers, it just wasn't good enough. The crap I've been doing for years. That's what I told her. 'Been doing this my whole life'. You wanna know what she said? She said 'Doing it as a human isn't good enough. If you wanna earn your gem, you have to think like one'."

Wow. That doesn't sound like Pearl at all. I mean, I kinda does, but….

"Look I'm sure that's not what she meant to--"

"I don't care what she meant, ok? I Don't care! I don't need approval from her, you or anyone! I'm fine on my own!"

"No you're not! You're broken! You told me yourself! We all wanna make you better. Just please, let us help you. We'll go to Pearl and talk about what you need."

"No! Y'know what? I'm done doing things your way! I play by my rules!"

He started to walk away, but Lydia jumped up to his face and slapped him silly.

"N! Stop being stupid! It's not funny anymore!"

"Outta my way L!" he pushed right by her.

"Nathan stop!" I grabbed his hoodie.

"Leave me alone!"

Then something fell from his pocket that caught me off guard. I looked down and saw…. A bundle of money?

Where did he get that? How did he get that? I look up to him, and he looks at me with fear in his eyes.

"Wha…… Nathan where….."

He snatched it up and held it to his chest. "I- I….. this is….."

"Nathan what did you do?"

His eyes darted in all directions. Then they closed. Then he pulled up his hood as he dissolved from sight. I just heard footsteps running away.

"NATHAN!"

My brain was racking. I look to Lydia for…. Something. Anything.

"Ok stay calm, Stevie." She said seriously. "Let's split up. I go find N. You? Go back in there and buy L a donut." Then she handsprung away.

Huh. That almost sounded like she was taking charge.

I had to think about it for a minute. He hasn't had a job, that diving thing didn't pan out, and he couldn't have taken from me. Did he steal from a store before he got here? No he couldn't have. One of the Bedrocks has to go with him wherever he goes. He couldn't have taken from the Big Donut just now, or the arcade, I never saw him go near the register. The machines just take coins. And it couldn't have been from the Pizza's, he was sitting with us the whole time except for when he…. Used…. The….. bathroom.

No. No he didn't. I know he did not just step into the bathroom, turn invisible, walk through the kitchen, wait at the register for an order, and take from it right over Kiki's shoulder. I know he wouldn't do that to me or them….. would he?...

He would.

That jerk.

Totally.

Would.

I could barely even hear people coming out of the doors next to me.

"Um, Steven?" Sadie says. I couldn't even look up.

"Is your friend still here? We were just gonna give him this apology donut for hurting his feelings."

"Yeah you really hurt his feelings." Lars says.

She hits him.

"Ow! Fine, _WE_ hurt his feelings."

"...He doesn't deserve it."

 **~BR~**

I walk back home alone. I'm gonna block the way back to the warp pad for when he comes back. If he already made it back home, I will scour that city to find him, chew him out, and make him give that money back.

I open the door, and the Crystal Gems are all in the living room.

"Ah Steven, there you are." Pearl says. "I just sent Arno home. He got tired."

Because that's what humans do right? I closed the door.

"Pearl also told us about her training with Nathan." Garnet says. "We were thinking about different methods of training. Him and Lydia."

"Yeah where are those guys at anyway?" Amethyst says. "Isn't he like on probation or something?"

I put the apology donut on the counter. What? Lydia still wanted one right?

"Steven?"

"Nathan…. Is a complete, and Utter, DILWEED!"

"Whoa!"

"Steven, watch your language!"

"Tell us what he did."

"He just- I can't believe- after all that! WOWWW! I mean really!? How could he…. I mean how does she even…… AGH!"

"Steven. you're rambling. Just tell us what he did." Garnet says.

"What he always does! Be a big old buttface! What does it take with him!? I try to help him, I really do, but he just won't get it! Now I have no clue where he is! The one thing I was supposed to keep track of, and I couldn't even do that!"

"So he's up to no good again huh?" Pearl says. "Well I can't say I'm surprised. Honestly that boy is bad news. Perhaps he truly isn't cut out for this."

"Oh like you're helping at all, Pearl!"

"Excuse me?"

"Telling him he's no good because he's half human? He has to earn the Gem he was born with? You're the reason he's acting this way!"

"Wha-he told you- oh please. He took that completely out of context. I was only saying that, if he truly wished to adapt to out training, and earn his place as a _CRYSTAL GEM_ , he must adjust his way of thinking."

"You're lying! You hate him because he's human! Is that how you feel about me too!?"

"Steven! How could you even think something like that!?"

"Yeah dude, chill out. You're not mad at her, you're mad a Nate, but he's not here."

"I'm mad at everyone! Oh crap! Now I'm turning into him!"

"Language!"

"Why is it that he's truly making you mad?" Garnet says, kneeling next to me.

"I don't know, because he sucks! Because he won't let go of his stupid habits! Because I just wanted to help him do better things like me and I failed!"

"So you're mad at yourself?"

"No! Well…. Yeah, I guess. But I can be mad at both, right?"

"Of course you can. There is plenty of blame to go around here. We've all failed in our own way. And that's what we are talking about here."

"But What else can we do? I just wanna help him. That's what friends do right?"

"Yes. But there are a few things we failed to recognize. One, these people are not you. They have their own unique qualities that can't compare to yours, and all we must be is a guiding hand to bring those out. Two, that they are free spirits, shunned by society, and had nowhere to go but to each other. Putting them in a box is only going to drive them away again. And most of all, 3, is patience. Adjusting to each other is not going to happen overnight. Do you understand me Steven?"

"I think so. But, he's doing seriously bad things. I can't just let that slide."

"So don't. Let him know of his mistakes, but don't forget that's all they are. Mistakes. They don't have to define him. Let him know that he is worthy of our friendship, and there's more to him than meets the eye."

"Like what?"

"Only you can figure that out." She pinched my cheek and walked away.

Pearl spoke up from across the room. "Steven, I……. I am so sorry. I only wanted to make him a better fighter. The same as you. I never meant to make either of you feel inadequate."

"I know Pearl. I'm sorry too."

 **~BR~**

I waited outside my house for maybe 2 hours, and the sun has almost completely set. He had to come back here if he wanted to get home. And there was no way he was gonna sneak by me. I just spent the whole time thinking about what I was gonna say. What to do with Garnet's advice. How to get through to him. I still had no clue. I just know I'm not gonna let up until I know exactly why he's acting like this.

Eventually I see L skipping down the beach and up the walkway leading to my house. She stops right next to me, points her thumb behind her, then sticks 2 thumbs up, and walks into the house.

I lock the door behind her.

Eventually N follows suit. He walks down the beach with attitude. I meet him halfway up the path.

"Spare me the hounding kid. I put the money back." He says, blowing by me.

"Ok but we are still gonna talk about it."

"No we're not." he keeps walking.

I jump ahead onto my deck.

"Yes we are. After everything S told you, everything I told you,"

He gets to the door and tries to open it.

"You still go behind me like this? Stealing from my friends? What were you thinking?"

"Open the door."

"No."

"Open it!"

"No! Tell me why!"

"No!" he walks up the wall.

"Don't you walk away from me."

"leave me alone."

I jump to the roof. "You can't keep doing these things!"

"buzz off." he goes by and walks up the temple wall.

"And you can't walk away forever!"

"Watch me!"

I jump to one of the hands of the Obsidian statue. "This is the same thing you got in trouble with in the first place! You try to get a job, you quit!"

He walks up past me "Stop it."

I jump to the shoulder. "We try to train you, you fight the teachers!"

He walks past me. "I said, Stop it!"

I jump to the top of the mountain. "I show you my home, my friends, you complain about everything, insult me, and steal from them!"

He gets to the top and goes past me. "Go away!"

I grab his hoodie, and he drags me along. "YOU wanted to be the guy we think you are! YOU'RE the one who wanted to change!"

He turns and shoves me back hard, screaming loudly.

I go over the edge, and he darts over to catch me by the arm.

I hang down, looking up into his desperate eyes. His whole body is shaking.

He pulls me back up, but doesn't let go of my arm. I'm still hanging, but now I'm eye level with him. He turns so my feet are over the ground, grips my collar with his other hand, then lets go of my arm to hold my collar in both hands.

He inhales deeply, then screams as loud as he can. "GET! REAL! STEVENNN!!!"

Then he drops me on the floor in front of him.

"Ain't nothin' changed! I'm still in the same place I was a month ago! You think I can just get a job like that!? Well I lied! Alright!? I never had a chance and that diving thing! As soon as I got down there, he found out I faked my scuba license, so I had to run! But I still gotta feed my friends, and now I gotta pay you back for that crap today! You think you or Pearl have any right to judge me huh Beach Boy!!!?"

"You lied about that scuba thing too!?" I stand up. "Is there anything you say that's not a total lie!?"

"Yeah! When I said this place sucks!"

"Do you realize you don't ever have to pay me back you idiot!? It was just some gifts from a friend! Doesn't that mean anything to you!?"

"No! There are no gifts where I'm from! You pay your debts or you take a lickin'! You act like some good ol' boys, smiling your fake smiles, but we both know for a FACT that I'm the odd one out! That I'm never gonna deserve y'alls precious approval! So why do you gotta keep pretending you're my friend, when I'm better off on my own!?"

"If that's what you think we are, you are a bigger idiot than I thought! And fake!? Why don't you look in a mirror! You act like this lone wolf, soldier of fortune! 'Me against the world'! But everything out of your mouth is money money money! Fight fight fight! You didn't steal that money to pay some imaginary debts, you did it for revenge! You do it for Me? L? S? You lied and went behind all our backs! You really wanna do something for them? Then do what we all want you to do! Stick to a job! Do good things! Be a friend!"

"SHUT UP! It's so easy for you to say, Isn't it!? But I can't do it! The only thing I've ever been good at is lying, fighting, and stealing my way around! I can't be what anybody wants me to be, 'cause I've never been good enough for anything anywhere I go! I'm not good enough for work, for school, for family, for friends, for Sandra, For you, for the Gems, I can't even live up to the freak that left this stupid rock in my hand! When is being good enough for me gonna be enough huh!? WHEN AM I GOOD ENOUGH!?"

"WHEN YOU REALIZE THAT NOT EVERYTHING IS ABOUT YOU!"

He tugs at his hair and lets out the most painful, long scream I have ever heard. Then he turns and walks back to the edge.

"We get it, alright!? You've been left out, mistreated, and mis-labeled! But what good is proving everyone right gonna do!? If you wanna be good enough for yourself, why don't you stop and think of something in you that is good!? Instead of feeling sorry for yourself and whining about your hard life all the time! Or do you just want me to do that for you too!?"

He says nothing facing away from me.

"What? Now you choose to shut up!? Answer me!"

He's still just standing there facing the sky.

"Nate!"

Still nothing. Just standing still. Perfectly still, actually. He's not shaking like he was before. Can…. Can he really not hear me?

"Nathan?" I ask with my head tilted.

Then I hear him sniff. Ok now I'm worried.

I walk up to him slowly, and go around to see his face. He's just, staring. Off into the distance. He's got a tear rolling down his cheek.

I look to where he's looking. It's just the sunset. It's reached that point where it makes that purple/orange color. The ocean reflects the top half of the sun in a wavy beam, like a candle fire.

It is a nice view, but this is what it takes to calm him down? Hasn't he seen a sunset in Jersey? Where it's basically….. always cloudy. And grimey. And he mostly spends his days too busy running for his life….. or being jerked around town by me…. To notice.

Oh no.

"You've never seen anything like this at home huh?"

"( _Sniff_ ) Not any good ones."

Now I feel cruddy. Really, really cruddy. That's what Garnet meant by boxes.

I sit on my knees looking down. He sits down next to me, almost plopping down like his legs are weak. I glance at his face and he never stopped staring into the sunset. Or crying. I look too, and try to imagine never seeing a good sunset before. It's actually pretty beautiful.

"( _sigh_ ) Nathan? I'm sorry for pushing you so hard today."

He says nothing.

"You know, you probably won't believe me. But I know how you feel."

He doesn't do his scoff.

"You said it yourself. My mom was the boss of all this. She was Rose Quartz. The leader of the Crystal Gems. The starter of the rebellion that saved the entire planet. Do I look like I can do any of that? For so long I've always compared myself to her, because I thought that's what the Gems were doing. I could never be as good as her, or as strong as her, or good enough to lead the Crystal Gems. Every time my healing spit didn't work, every time I unleashed a huge monster, every time I forgot to bring that one important thing, that was just another reason to give up. To think I couldn't do this like her. But maybe that's a good thing. I'm not her, I'm just me. I'm proud of how I've been able to do things my own way. And seeing you guys just makes me want you to be that proud too."

"( _Sniff_ ) I ain't like you kid. I'm a bad guy?"

"No." I look directly at him. "Don't say that anymore. No, you're not me. Yes, you do a lot of bad things, say a lot of bad things, and you do need a good uppercut once in a while, but I will never ever call you a bad person. You know when you first met me, you said you could have easily left me in that street? But you didn't. You could have let me get hurt in that club, but you didn't. You could have stayed behind when your friends came to save Arno but you didn't. You could have not saved Amethyst by putting your body over her but you did. You didn't have to protect Lydia in the arcade but you did. Even like two minutes ago. You knew I Could float, but you caught me anyway. Bad people don't do any of the things you do. I just want you all to see what I see in you. To believe in the you that I believe in. And I know now, that I can't just force it on you."

I dig my key out of my pocket, and put it next to him.

"If you really believe you'll never be worth anything, then…. just go. I won't stop you. But if you have just the tiniest bit of hope that you have a chance with us, then I promise I'll stop putting so much pressure on you, and I'll get Pearl to let up. But then you'll have to promise you'll accept our help. Finding the best job for you. Finding the best training for you. Finding the best role for you as a Crystal Gem. Or, when you just wanna open up and talk about stuff. We will be here."

For the first time he looks away from the fading sun.

He looks down at the key, then picks it up.

He stares at it in his hand, then looks up to me.

I wait for his answer, never looking away.

Then he sighs and rolls his eyes, turning back to face the sky as he puts the key back in my hand. "You are… way too young to say that kinda stuff."

I crack a smile, putting the key away.

The sun has fully disappeared. Allowing the stars to come into view.

"You're right. I'm tired of running away. I won't anymore."

"Thank you."

He chuckled slightly, looking down. "I never thanked you for anything, have I?"

"Well no, but you don't really need to. Just save it for a rainy day."

"Ok."

I feel more at ease now than I have been since we met. I actually managed to diffuse this on my own. Kinda exciting, huh?

I get up off the grass. "I'm glad we talked about this."

He nods as he finally stopped crying.

"Well, I'll go inside and leave you alone now. I'll leave the door unlocked so you can come through when you're ready."

I turn away, and walk to the other edge.

"Wait. Umm,"

I turn back to him.

"You know, I still got S's….. probation, and stuff. You'll probably have to, you know, stay out here. With me. For a little while. But it's whatever, you know."

I smile and go back over to sit with him. "Sure thing." I look back up at the stars with him.

We look as more and more come into view. And they sparkle against the water.

I almost don't wanna ruin this quiet, but I just have one lingering question. "So, Is there really nothing you like about Beach City?"

"Ehh. Pizza was better than a lot I had in Jersey."

"Yeah. Nanefua does her best."

Silence came between us again.

It lasted another few seconds until he spoke up.

"So, I didn't really look like that spaz Kiki with Garnet did I?"

Gosh do I try not to laugh. "Um, Nope. No you didn't."

"Oh."

"With you, your whole face changes color."

"( _Chuckling_ ) Yeah yeah. I know."

Now I let myself laugh a bit.

"You know, my first foster mom called me the 'Cooty Alarm'."

"Pffffffff! No way."

"Yeah It's true. Every time I saw a pretty girl, it's just instantly, 'CODE RED! CODE RED! RUN FOR THE HILLS!'"

We crack up.

"Man I'm horrible with girls. This one time, when I was like 11, I pulled the worst heist of my life taking this girl's rhinestone wallet. And the only reason I messed it up was so she'd notice and talk to me."

I hunch over.

"Yeah, and I couldn't say a thing to her. I was just standing there staring like a deer caught in headlights, beat red, just going 'Uhhh Uhhh Uhhh'."

I have to use him to hold myself up.

"And she goes 'What's your problem, man?' and I'm still just 'Uhhh Uhhh Uhhh'. Then she kicked me really hard in the nads."

Now I'm rolling on the floor. I can't even tell if he's laughing too but I'm pretty sure he is.

"An( _Breathe_ ) and( _Breathe_ )...the sad thing is, I still loved her!"

Now I know he's laughing too.

He tells more stories like this for maybe another hour, until the moon gets high in the sky. Then we both go home, and go to sleep.

 **END OF EPISODE 6**


	7. Castle Of Glass

**Steven Universe:**

 **The Bedrock Society**

 _Episode 7: Castle of Glass_

N **L.** A S BR

Welp, ready as I'll ever be. Usually this whole apology thing is easy for me, but I've felt kinda weird about this one. For one thing, I've been busy making sure the Bedrocks are adjusting to working with us. And for another, It's been hard to find a way to tell Sour Cream that I'm still with the guy mostly responsible for ruining his big break. But I've avoided him long enough. Time to be a big boy, Steven.

Here he comes.

He's walking down the street with his hands in his pockets.

When he gets close, I jump from around the corner to greet him. "HI SOUR CREAM!"

"Whoa! Steven? Where've you been, man?"

"Just at home. Where I always am."

"Yeah but everytime I go there, you're not there."

"Yeah, I've been… going out of town a lot. Listen I just want to say I'm sorry."

"What for?"

"For your rave in Jersey. I brought that guy Nathan, and messed everything up. It was my fault, and I didn't know how to talk to you about it, or tell you--"

"Steven Bro. Relax. It's ok man. I don't blame you for that."

"Really?" Whew.

"Yeah, that's exactly why I wanted to talk to you too. None of that was your fault. I mean, you couldn't have known that dude was in trouble with the law. That was a total freak accident."

Oh…

"I just hope the cops caught up to him and put him away."

OHHH…

"W-well actually… He--"

"Besides to be honest, the rave was a bust anyway."

"What do you mean? That was your big break."

"Well remember how I had a connection? I figured out it was my dad."

"What? You mean Marty?"

"Yes. He got me the spot, and he hooked me up with the passes. I didn't earn it at all."

"But, why would he do that? I thought you guys didn't want anything to do with each other."

"Well he does. He thinks he can just buy me into his life. But I'm not having it."

"But then why wouldn't he tell you he did this?"

"I don't know. But it's not the first thing he's lied about. Grr it's just so frustrating, man!"

"Why? I know he's not really nice, but this was a nice thing to do."

"It's complicated. I…( _sigh_ )" He leans against the wall. "This was supposed to be my thing. Something I made myself, you know? I told him that. He just doesn't get it. All he's doing is making it about him. And I hate that. Maybe he means well, I dunno, but you saw how he is. He's a bad dude. I just wish he'd stay away."

Oh boy. Doesn't this feel familiar? I wanna give advice, but maybe it's none of my business. On the other hand, if he feels this way, he probably won't approve of me being with the Bedrocks. Maybe I should warm him up to it a little bit first.

"Listen. I've learned a bit about this kind of stuff in the past few weeks. Like, just because people do some bad things, doesn't mean they're a bad person. They just see things a little differently than you do. If he's willing to go through that trouble for you, don't you think it's worth giving him a little chance? You could talk about it and get him to back off nicely."

"I appreciate that, and I don't mean to be rude, but I think you're wrong about him. If he wanted to talk, he would have by now. And I don't want to talk to him."

"Oh. Ok."

"Where'd you learn that from anyway? Greg?"

"Well actually…. See, I've been--"

"HIIIIII STEVIE!!!"

what the crap?

We look up, and Lydia is falling down from the roof with a big smile. I jump back and she superhero lands in front of me.

"I WIIIIIIINN! I WIN I WIN I WIIIIIIINN!" She sings, dancing around me.

"Um, Hi, L. What did you win?"

"Playtime with Ballet Gnome! I win! I got this bitey thingy from the pouch!"

She takes something from her jacket pocket and gnaws on it. It looks like Pearl gave her a dog's breath mint stick for a prize. We should talk about that.

"Oh you passed Pearl's training today. That's great."

She stops biting and uses it as a mic "Tastes like VICTORYYYYYYY! with a hint of minty freshness!"

"Uhhh, did that girl just jump off that building?" Sour Cream asks. Wow I forgot he was here.

"Oh. Sour Cream this is Lydia. Lydia, Sour Cream. Don't worry she's fine."

"Oh I wasn't worried I just thought that was sick."

"Ooooooh!" L runs up to him. "Banana man is cute! You're like N with a long face. Are you sad Creamy? Is that why you got a long face? Have some bitey thingy. It makes me smile."

"No thanks, bud. I'm cool. But how aren't you hurt from that fall?"

"I drink milk! Oh that reminds me!" She hand sprung over to me. "Stevie we gonna put the hamsters in the pink ball in the sandbox today?"

"What?" I ask.

"Banana man?" Sour Cream asks.

"Y'know. The…" she leans into my ear and whispers. "The bubble. Can we play with your bubble like you promised?"

Oh I get it. "L, It's fine. He already knows about gems and my powers. We can talk about it."

"Really? YIPPEE! So can we ride your bubble at the beach huh? Can we can we can we?"

"Actually, we were kinda talking. I don't think it's a good time."

"Aww but you promised today!"

"When?"

"3 days ago."

Oh now I remember. But looking back, I only really said _"Three days time"_ because it sounded like a cool thing to say. I kinda thought she'd forget.

"Oh that's alright." Sour Cream says. "It's no big deal. We can talk about it later."

"Wait! Banana Man wanna come watch us play? It'll fix your long face."

"Uh, sure I'll watch. I got nothing going on."

"Yes yes yes! Can we can we can we Stevie?!"

Well, she does have a point. He is feeling a little down, and doing something fun with us is just what he might need. And maybe it's better to tell him about Nate in a good mood.

"Um, sure sure sure."

"woot woot WOOT!"

 **~BR~**

So Sour Cream's turned his pants into shorts, and is now sitting on a rock while we roll around my bubble on the sand like a couple of big ol' hamsters. We even started doing some tricks.

She gets out and runs on top of the bubble.

We take each other's hands, I press her feet to the top of it, and we roll as a single beam in the middle of it.

I don't even think me and Amethyst have fun like this. Or at least, I don't get this tired with her.

"Hey! Ramp that big rock!" Sour Cream shouts.

"Wicked!" Lydia says.

"Ok.( _Breathe_ ) One ramp,( _Breathe_ ) then we're done." I say to her.

"Then let's make it a big one!"

"Right!"

We start running really hard, hit the rock and fly. But at the moment we take off, we jump into the top of the bubble, float ourselves, and go way higher.

We stop floating and fall fast. We hold onto each other and scream the whole way down. We crash down and blow sand everywhere. The bubble cushions most of the blow and pops.

I'm laying in the sand trying to catch my breath, while L is holding her side from laughing so hard. I laugh too with as much air as I have left. Sour Cream slightly applauds us.

But as she's laughing I smell something burning and I feel heat underneath me. I glance over to her and see smoke coming off her body. She's burning up with happiness. I don't think anything of it until I noticed the sand around us getting redder and hotter by the SECOND!

"Whoa!" I hop up and get out of dodge just as the sand turns to glass around us.

"AAH!" L sees what she did and jumps back.

"What the?" Sour Cream looks surprised.

She's almost crying. "IMSORRYIMSORRYIMSORRY I burned things again Imsosorry im--"

"L It's ok please calm down!"

She can't calm down. She's still making red, gooey footprints while she's apologizing. They harden and turn reflective when she steps off them. There's only one thing for it.

"Lydia!" I jump at her full spread eagle.

She quickly tenses up and stops smoking, just before I wrap my arms around her and roll on the floor.

As soon as we stop she pulls away from me. "Stevie's not hurt? You're ok?"

"Yes yes. I'm ok."

"I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault. You just got a little excited."

"You sure you ok?"

"Yes. 100 percent."

"( _breathe in, breathe out_ ) ok."

"Hey guys, are you alright?" Sour Cream says running over here.

"Yeah we're fine."

"How the heck did she do that? I had no clue she had powers like you."

"She's a hybrid Gem like me. They call themselves Bedrocks. Her power's being really hot."

They both looked at me kinda funny. It took a… disappointingly long time for me to see why.

"I- I mean, she can get her skin really hot to burn and melt stuff. Oh and floating! Like me. sh- she can do that too. Ehehe…"

"And you can heat sand enough to make it glass on contact? That's pretty impressive."

"Thanks Creamy. Did you like our tricks?"

"Uh, yeah they were pretty cool."

"Sweet! Wanna watch me do something else?"

"Actually, I kinda wanna see you make more glass."

"What?" I ask.

"What?" She asks. "But… what if I… Stevie, he--"

"Me and Stevie are gonna stand way over here, kid." He says, grabbing my shoulders and pulling me away. "Just show me your stuff. It'll be really entertaining."

"( _gasp_ ) OKAY!" She hops up, throws her jacket off, and rubs her hands together. Smoke starts coming off her again, and she presses her hands into the sand.

"Sour Cream, why did you want to see her do that again?"

"I dunno. She kinda reminds me of how much of a show-off I was when I was her age. We just want an audience, so I'm being hers."

"Oh. But are you sure It's a good Idea?"

"Just trust her. she knows what she's doing."

L's already made 2 glass handprints in the sand. "YAY!" She also made some glass on her knees. "Aww." She tries to stand up, but she's stuck bent in a crab walk position. Then she stands on her hands, and claps her knees together to break the glass.

I held back from screaming _"watch out for the broken glass!"_

She continues making glass prints while walking on her hands.

"Ok now that's cool." He says.

Yeah it is really cool. Although, I don't know if it's the best thing while she's learning to control her powers. But if she knows what she's doing, I guess I should just back off.

She gets really into it and handsprings to make hand and footprints. At some points she contorts herself in mid-spring to put one hand and one foot down at the same time. THAT was pretty crazy.

Next thing is she just stops and plops flat on the sand. I thought she was done, but it looks like she's just getting started. She starts making a snow angel in the sand, making it red hot underneath her.

Then she does it faster. And faster. And more faster. Then swings her legs up and does some breakdance spinning. Kicking up all the gooey sand around her.

She is going so fast neither me or Sour Cream can believe it.

She's making a big cyclone around her. Coming up and bubbling out around her. As it cools it keeps spinning and becomes a giant brownish glass bowl.

We just look at it in amazement.

She hops on top of it. "TADA!"

We applaud her.

She tries to step out, but the bowl tips and falls over her.

"Wow that was so cool!" I say. "How did you do that?"

She peaks her head out from underneath it. "I was on a beach before. I made lotsa cool sculptures and sold them for money. Or candy!"

"Can you make something else?" Sour Cream asks.

"Yeah!"

She came out from under the bowl, and went to another patch of sand. But she saw it was too close to us for her liking, and moved back further. Then she started heating up the sand.

"Why's she so scared if she's done this before?" Sour Cream asks.

"Well, we kinda had an accident a while ago. She bu- I burned myself on her pretty bad. I'm fine now, but it freaked her out and it's been hard for her to use her powers around others ever since. Which makes helping her control her powers pretty hard."

"Sorry to hear that, man. If you want my advice, I think she needs a way to stretch. I mean go 100 percent, by herself."

"Why?"

"She needs to push the limit. She can't do that if she's too afraid to hurt anyone."

"Oh, I get it. But I dunno if we can do that safely."

"Eh, just an idea. I don't know about this stuff."

Well, he's on a better track than any of us.

L finishes her sculpture and holds it up. it looks like an angry, spiky snake.

"I am a dragon!" She says. Could be a dragon too. "Hear me roar!" She makes it fly around. Like a plane.

"( _Giggle_ ) that's cute." He says.

"Ooh lookie! It makes light all funky!"

We go over to see what she was talking about.

The light going through the dragon is a bunch of different colors like a rainbow.

"Oh that's pretty." I say.

"Yeah, I could rave to this."

"Oooh! Party!?"

"No, no party. I just say that."

"If it were bigger, then maybe." I say, half joking.

But then, both me and Sour Cream look up. We look at each other. We look at the sculpture puzzling, smile wide, and I just know we both have the same Idea. We say it at the same time.

"GLASS LIGHT SHOW!"

"Huh?" L asks.

"How we solve both your problems!" I say.

"I have problems?" She says.

"You need to use your powers better," Sour Cream says. "and I wanna make my own big show."

"So," I continue. "You make some real big sculptures, We get friends to put lights in them,"

"I get buck's dad to advertise, work on some light and sound mixes, and we put on a show right here on the beach!"

"It's a win win!"

L hops up. "So yes party!?"

Sour Cream laughs. "Yes, party."

L screams happily, while _"glassing"_ the sand under her. She immediately stops. "I-I mean… cool."

This could be tough. Tougher still, I gotta get Arno and Nathan to help rig up the lights. But if this goes right, Sour Cream will be so impressed with his concert, he'll _Have_ to forget about After Taste and be Nate's friend. Just gotta keep them apart until after his show.

 **~BR~**

The next day, we're off to work. Sour Cream is working on his sounds, A's making the lights, I'm handing out the flyers I drew and had Mayor Dewey's permission to copy a bajillion times, and L's on the beach constructing Sour Cream's sculpture Ideas.

I put these things everywhere. Even a bit past town. Takes a solid 4 and a half hours before I run out, then I went to get food and headed to the beach to check on L. She already made a giant pretzel, started a castle pillar but left it, and is now putting another cube on a pyramid. The cubes are stacked barely taller than her at this point, and it's square base is about the length of the van.

I see another level to the castle to the right.

She stands on top of it. "HI STEVIE!" She says, breathing heavy.

"Hey. This is incredible. Nice work."

She jumps down. "Me aims to please." She bows.

"I can't believe Sour Cream asked for a giant pretzel."

"Oh he said I can make one up. That's all ME!... I really wanna soft pretzel."

"Wow that's exactly what I got. Can you read my mind or something?" I pull a soft pretzel out of the bag and toss it to her.

"Yippie! You's awesome sauce, Stevie!" She practically inhales it.

"So you wanna take 5? Don't want you wearing yourself out."

"I won't. Can you pick up that piece? It's heavy."

"Um, ok." I go over to the castle piece. "But aren't you worried you'll get too tired?"

"I never get tired." She starts moulding something else.

"You sure?" I say, lifting the piece. "You're looking pretty beat."

"Nah. L's always on it, and the show must go on!" She continues moulding in a circle.

"The show's ... not on yet, but if you say so." I put the piece on top of the other part of the castle. It starts sliding but I hold it in place. "Um, L?"

She stops what she's doing, grabs a clump of sand, heats it into goo, comes over, and applies the goo to the place between the two pieces, and it turns to glass and holds the two parts together.

"Good thinking."

"Ain't no thang but a chicken wang!" She says, flipping back to work.

She looks to be making another level. I can't see how she'd add these without my help, and now I know why she stopped.

A couple minutes later, she finishes the level. It's a large thick circle that goes up to her waist.

"Here I'll help you put that up."

"NO!"

I stop.

"Still real hot."

"Oh."

She abandons this and moulds another cube.

"How will I know when It's cooled?"

"I'll tell ya."

So I just sort of sit on my knees, watching her mould a cube, walk up the pyramid like stairs, place the cube, walk back down, rinse, and repeat.

She doesn't even think to stop to take a break. She's kinda like a machine.

Finally she tells me to put the castle part on top and I pick it up. But this time, I'm not tall enough to reach the top. "Hey L. What do I do now?"

She stops, and puzzles for a few seconds. She looks between the pillar and the pyramid. Then a lightbulb goes off in her mind. She makes more goo and climbs to the top of her partial pyramid. "Push it over here!"

I put down the top piece and push the pillar toward her.

"Now jump and put the thing on the thing!"

Oh, now I get it. I go get the top piece, jump up, slide it into place, while she jumps from her perch, and slaps the glass into place.

She is so much more clever than she looks.

She goes back to making cubes before I could give her a high five.

I look at the sun.

"Hey. It's getting pretty late. We should pack it in for now."

"But I'm almost done!" She whines.

"But you look beat. You've been at this all day."

"Creamy's gonna need these. Can me stay pweeze?" She puppy dog eyes me.

"Um… Ok. Is there anything else you're gonna need?"

"Nope! I gots diss!"

"Kay. I'll go see about sour cream then. Don't work too hard."

"Byee!"

 **~BR~**

I go over to Sour Cream's house, and there's a bunch of freaky lights and sounds coming out of his garage. He's in there on an office chair hunched over a keyboard in front of a tv screen. To his side is his music stuff. He scoots between the two, changes the light's color, holds the glass dragon up to it to see how the light changes, then makes another music track.

I enter the garage. "Hi sour cream."

"Hey man." He says without looking up.

"I've never seen this stuff before. It's so cool."

"Thanks. I never really use it, but It's pretty fun."

"And L's almost done with the sculptures."

"Already? Man that girl's energy flows like a typhoon. And your other guy told me his plan for the light rig, and ( _whistle_ ). You sure make some interesting friends Steven."

"I'll say. So you think the show's gonna turn out like you hoped?"

"Yeah. Just need this one more sculpture from L. Can you give this to her?"

He hands me a piece of paper, and it has a pretty detailed sketch of a… 10 foot tiki head?

"You want L to make this too?"

"Yep."

"But, don't you think you have enough sculptures? She even made a pretzel."

"4's gonna make the presentation more symmetrical."

"But, something like this is gonna take her all night."

"Ok."

Um, this is starting to take a bad turn. "What do you mean Ok? She's gonna wear herself out making this stuff. And even after that I know she's gonna wanna dance at your show."

"She said she likes making these. If she can't handle it, she can stop whenever she wants."

"But she Isn't really doing this for herself, she's doing it because you want her to."

"Look I think you're thinking too hard on this. No one's twisting her arm and making her do anything she can't handle?"

"But I just don't think she knows that."

"We wanted her to stretch her power right? This is how she wanted to do it."

"But if we let her push too far…"

He turns away from the screen to look at me. "So what? She's just a little baby who can't think for herself? No. She's a big kid. Let her make her own decision."

"But You don't even know her."

"Yeah I do. She's a performer like me. Maybe you don't know her."

"But I'm the--"

"You know what? Stop saying 'but'. I have a lot to do before tomorrow. Could you just take her the picture, please?"

I couldn't think of any good way to accomplish my goal, so I just took the picture and left.

When I went back to the beach, L was already nearly done with the pyramid. She was covered in dirt, and almost out of breath. But she perked up when she saw me. Expecting a note from Sour Cream.

I thought about keeping the tiki from L and just going back home. But I figured they'd both get mad if they found out, so I gave her the picture and she goes right back to work.

Something about this doesn't feel right. I know I'm supposed to back off. And I know she needs to stretch if she's gonna control her powers, but… I dunno. She's just different from the others. I don't think she'll stop herself even if it's good for her. And if she pushes it too far it could get dangerous. I can't just let her hurt herself, but she'll only stop if Sour Cream tells her to. But how do I convince him he doesn't know her as well as he thinks he does?

Wait. Someone he doesn't know…

 **~BR~**

The day of Sour Cream's show is here. L's tiki is finished, but still on the floor.

L's trying to be giddy about it, but she is totally burnt out. "c- COME ON stevie… let's piiICK 'ER UP, And get diz show on da road!" She tries to lift it upright, but it doesn't budge for her.

"Just let me do it, ok?" I say, pulling her aside.

"Kayoko, bro!"

I stand the tiki upright, and push it to where Sour Cream and Arno are feeding the stringy lights through the holes in the sculptures.

"So you're sure these will work?" Sour Cream asks.

"Of course." A says. "Would not have made them if I wasn't."

"Ok, but when are we gonna test 'em?"

"As soon as N gets here with the generator." He took some lights and a drill to the tiki. "More cardboard, Smetana."

"Yeah, he… what did you call me?"

"What? Oh. Sorry.( _chuckle_ ) Smetana is Czech for Sour Cream. And also the name of some famous old composers in the country."

"Oh. Neet." He hands him the cardboard. "Wonder if my mom knew that."

"It was ...the only music they would play at the orphanage. ( _shudder_ ) So boring." He drilled with the cardboard on the glass.

"Well nobody can call this show boring." Sour Cream Said.

"Yeah!" L yelled, stumbling next to me. "PARTAY till we're PURPLE as Amy-fist!"

I pull her aside. "Hey, L? You've been working all night. It's ok for you to miss the show and get some rest."

"HwAAAH? naww man, me gots this! Creamy need a good dance, so Imma do ma big move!"

"Big move?"

"Yeah. The bowl trick!"

"What? Lydia no. You're too tired to do that."

"L no tired, you tired!"

"L, I really don't think you should--"

"I need to do my big move to make creamy's show real special and we can be best friends!" She got frustrated and got right up to my face.

I just nodded and backed away.

I go to Sour Cream.

"Alright." A says. "They are all set."

"Sweet. Now we just need your guy N to…"

I tap him to get his attention.

"What?"

"Look you have to talk to L. She wants to do the bowl trick again at your show."

"Oh really? Cool. That's gonna make the big finish epic."

"No, she can't do it. She's too tired. You have to tell her she can't."

"We talked about this. If she says she can, she Can. Yo Lydia!" He says to her. "You good to go?"

"Yeparoony!" She says, wobbly. Then she perks up a bit. "Ooh! Here comes big brother!"

Now here's my plan B. 1, Keeping secrets is what landed me in hot water with the Bedrocks, so I decided not to wait till after the show to reintroduce them. 2, He needs to know that he doesn't know L as well as he thinks he does. So I figure if he sees N with her, he'll rethink how he handles her.

So Nate is coming down the beach rolling a generator behind him.

Sour Cream's expression is almost what I expected. Surprise, with a hint of annoyance. He goes to meet him halfway. I follow him.

"Yo. You're the bagel with Cream Cheese, right? Where you want this at?"

Wonderful greeting, you idiot.

"You… I know you."

"Well then I'm doing something wrong."

"You were the guy that the cops were after at After Taste."

"Ah. Sandals said you'd be weird about it."

"Weird about it? What are you doing here?"

"Lugging the geeks scrap around."

"Wait you guys know this guy?"

"Yes." Me and A say together.

"He's half Gem too, Sour Cream." I say.

"Tell the whole world, why don't ya, kid." N says.

"They're practically family. They're the Bedrock Society."

"So, her… him… they… "

"Are like family?" N says. "Yeah, he established that. What of it?"

"Uhh, Go away."

"Huh? What for?"

"Because… you're like a criminal, dude?"

"Sour Cream it's not like that." I say. "He chan…. he's changing. It's a work in progress."

"Changed since he ruined my rave? He brought the cops to that club."

"But he's always there for his friends. He's saved one of our lives at least 3 times. You didn't… _Know_ that about him, did you?"

"I don't care to know him, I don't trust him. I don't want him messing up another one of my shows."

"Heyy, you NERD!" L says wearily. "Y-you leave my N alone, or L's gonna put you in a turkey!"

"Huh?"

"I dance best with him watching. If you get rida him, you're show'll…" she seems to nod off standing.

"Suck?"

"( _wake_ ) SUCK!"

"Look. Lydia. I don't think you get the situation."

"He a thief? So? Me a thief too. I took candy from a baby."

Even I stared at her for that.

"Once… L was hungry."

"Hey, Sour Cream?" ( _gasp_ ) Nathan just said his real name! "Look man. Real talk… I'm sorry."

We had to check to make sure we heard that right.

"I've made a lot of mistakes. I still do, and they dropped right into yours and Sandal's lap. but now… I dunno I just wanna try something different. So you don't gotta like me, you don't gotta trust me, that's fine. I'm not here for you. I'm here for the 3 of them. So if you can just deal with it, just today, I swear I won't… intentionally tick you off. We cool?" He stuck his hand out to shake.

This is actually better than what we practiced.

Sour Cream hesitated, looking him up and down, but did eventually shake his hand. "Fine. Whatever. But just do what they tell you and stay outta my way."

"Right back atcha."

Sour Cream started to walk away.

"Wait. Sour Cream." I say, stopping him. "Isn't there something else you wanna say?"

"Yeah, let's get this stuff ready." He continued walking.

I went back to N. "Nice show of restraint there."

"Yeah a couple more seconds, and I'd have had to flame the kid. _'Boy, if you don't get yo slow as molasses talkin', banana face havin', peanut butter jelly time singing, will the real slim BRIGHTY please stand up lookin'--'_ "

"Later, Nate. We gotta do something. This isn't how that was supposed to go."

"What exactly was your plan here?"

"He was supposed to see you with her then tell L she can't dance at the glass show."

"Because?"

"Because… well… I mean the plan made a lot of sense… in my head, but it's hard to… communicate it."

"Right."

"Can't you tell her to stop?"

"Yo L! Go lay down!"

"Don't wanna!"

"I tried."

"This is bad. She's been exerting her powers all night and she's exhausted. If she tries to use them at the show, there's no telling what could happen."

"Well I've seen her like this before. You can't stop her."

I'm holding my head, on the verge of panic!

Then he touches my shoulder and leans down to my ear. "But _I_ can distract her." He pats my shoulder and walks away with the generator.

I feel a bit of relief. Bit of worry too.

 **~BR~**

Twilight came, and it's time for the show. A lot of people from Beach City and a few I've never seen have shown up.

In all honesty, the setup with all the sculptures looks beautiful. To the left of the DJ set, there's the castle pillar in front of the pyramid. To the right, the pretzel in front of the tiki. And they shimmer in the low sunlight in a beautiful way.

I know Sour Cream's gonna do great, but I just hope N can really keep L Away from the dance floor.

But at the same time, this kinda feels dirty. I tried to force N to stay out of trouble, and that blew up in my face. And when I eased off of him, we started getting along way better. Now I'm trying the same with L, but left alone she's hurting herself. Maybe I should just listen to Sour Cream and not worry so much, but my gut is just screaming he isn't right about this. If I just put my foot down and force L to stop, are both she and Sour Cream gonna hate me? Even if they don't I still wanna help both as best as I can. But what's more important to me? Keeping them healthy or happy? WHY DOES THIS HAVE TO BE SO COMPLICATED!?

Ok stop. Just stop. Don't freak out right now. Just focus on supporting Sour Cream, and we'll deal with L later.

She's waiting at the front of the crowd, groggy, but anxious for the show to start. N came from the stage area and walked over here. Me and N exchanged a look, and he went to Lydia.

Arno stayed by the equipment.

"Yo L wanna play the fruit game?"

"( _Gasp_ ) OK!"

They keep walking as he turns his skin purple and his hair green.

"OH! EGGPLANT!"

"Nice!"

They leave my line of sight.

"Alright everybody." Sour Cream's voice said from a megaphone. "If you gotta blink, do it now."

The lights came on in the sculptures in a bunch of changing colors. Sour Cream was right between them at his DJ set. He's also lit up by the sculptures.

"Feast your eyes and ears on this. Eat their hearts out."

With L nice and distracted, I can let myself be excited for Sour Cream. This is it.

He threw glow sticks at the audience before he played his dubstep beats.

The lights danced in the sculptures bringing them to life. The colors were like a dream. Splintering and shifting. When his music is slow, the light ebbs and flows like water. When it's fast, it flickers and pounds like strobes.

We've started dancing to it. The music switching from. Intense to soothing, the light from harsh to soft, almost hypnotizing the audience. According to him, that's how it's supposed to be.

I see Vidalia and Yellowtail enjoying the show too. I hope that Sour Cream sees them.

When you're dancing to stuff like this, you eventually lose track of the time. I forget how long the show's been on, but it's been a blast. Certainly better than the one at After Taste. Less crazy, more people I know, and the Bedrocks are helping more than they're hurting. N's nowhere to be seen, and L's dancing as best as she can. Nothing can mess this up.

(...)

(...)

( ! )

Wait a minute. Shouldn't N be like, with her? Distracting her? From dancing?

I peer around some bodies to investigate, and I see Lydia, closer to Sour Cream than the rest of us, on her hands and knees, heating up the sand to the rhythm of the music. The sand is glowing and smoking, but she looks like she's frustrated not being able to do it all the way.

I gotta get over there and stop her now.

I squeeze past the people, get away from the crowd and almost dart to her, but Vidalia cuts me off.

"Hey Steven!" She shouts over the music.

"Hi! Excuse me--"

"I just wanted to say I never told you thanks for always helping my son out!"

"You're welcome, but--"

"You know he really needed some positivity right now! After the whole club thing with Marty, he's just been a little bummed,"

"Yeah I just need to--"

"And he always puts so much pressure on himself to succeed! But I keep telling him, 'Take it slow, son! You don't owe anybody anything but yourself' y'know?"

I look around and see L on her back pounding the ground with her fists and feet. The heat more intense with every hit. Then she screams and hits the ground again, getting Vidalia's attention. The heat explodes and sends a wave of red hot glass shooting in our direction.

"Look out!" I grab Vidalia and jump hard to the side. The glass stopped right where we were standing.

Everyone else backed away. The music stopped.

"Everybody run! Now!" I scream as another explosion cracks off behind me.

The crowd bails in a hurry.

I look back to L who's made another large glass spike. She sees what she's done and looks scared and confused. She tries to run but stumbles onto her hands, makes another explosion of glass that blows her back.

N runs up beside me. "Oh that is not good!"

"What happened!? You were supposed to distract her!"

"Well apparently we both have short attention spans! That's my bad!"

We try to run over. Another explosion goes off. She gets trapped in a huge glass mass, screams, then it blows up sending shards everywhere. A and Sour Cream are stuck by the stage. As she lands she sends a final wave of hot glass toward the stage. It hits the equipment, destroys it, and the explosion breaks all 4 glass sculptures. The pyramid and castle on the left took the worst and pieces of them go flying. They jumped out of the way to the right in time, but the tiki and pretzel got cracked bad and are gonna fall on them in a second.

"She has even less control than before! We gotta save them!"

"I got the Cream and the L, you get the geek!"

We ran toward them, him crazy fast as he scoops up L, and jumps to the side as glass cubes and shards fall where he was.

I keep running to A. He's right in the path of the pretzel and it's gonna crush him. I jump just in the nick of time to put the bubble around us blocking the glass.

N jumps away with Sour Cream just as more glass falls where he was.

"We gotta move!" I lower the bubble and me and A take off.

The tiki starts falling, but in my distraction I trip and fall. I use my shield to push Arno further away, and brace for the incredible amount of pain I'm about to feel.

Then I hear the glass shatter above me. I flip onto my back and Lydia is standing right over me using the heat from her hands to shatter the glass as the pieces fall as fast as Wonder Woman.

When all the glass was in pieces around us, she stepped over me and turned to face me. Her head and arms were cut up by the glass and she looked barely awake. "Stevie…. Awkiee?" She falls down right next to me.

"Lydia! Are you okay!?" I help her sit up.

N ran back over here. "C'mon help me sit her down."

We pick her up and take her over to A nearby rock to sit down.

"Asking a lot, but try to stay awake for me, ok kiddo?"

She nods

Sour Cream and Arno ran over to us.

"Is everyone alright?"

"Yeah. Nobody's hurt. She's just gonna need some rest."

Sour Cream Sighed in relief. Then looked angrily at Nathan. "You." He pulled his arm and shoved him away. "Get away from here!"

N shoved back. "What's your problem, man!? What did I do?"

"I saw you take her away before the show started! You did something that messed her up!"

"I literally did nothing!"

"You're lying! Everything was just fine before you showed up!"

"Sour Cream stop!" I stepped in front of him. "This isn't his fault! I tried to tell you we needed to stop her but you wouldn't listen to me!"

"So What? You try to sabotage my show too!?"

"Are you kidding me!? What is the matter with you!?"

"You are, Steven! I should have just done this on my own! All you and your friends brought me was more problems!"

"No no no." N cut in. "Let's talk about the real problem here, Cream Puff. The problem is you're so caught up trying to prove a point to your absentee daddy, that you accepted a gig from a connection you've never met, in a town you don't live in, in a club you've never been to, with a crew you've never worked with. And you're surprised a frequenting felon busted it up?"

"Alright that's--"

"And now some kid with crazy powers and a flair for art drops in your lap, and you just jump at the chance to take advantage of her and put on a show without having a clue what you're dealing with. But it's her fault too, huh?"

"You have--"

"We're all at fault but you right? Maybe it's all your pop's fault, but he ain't here so you gotta put that on us. But all we did was bend over backwards to try to help you. Even your dad. He just went out of his way to give you what you want. You really think you're on your own? Well congrats. This is all on you. Because your dad just runs you."

"You're wrong! Okay? you're wrong! This has nothing to do with Marty!"

"Really though? Then let's try some word association. Beach."

"What does that have to do with--"

"BEACH!"

"( _groan_ ) City."

"Sand."

"Glass."

"Cheddar."

"Sour cream."

"Steven."

"Cool."

"L."

"Funny."

"Me."

"Dad."

We all paused, surprise. Except Nate.

"I… I-I mean…"

"I rest my case." He says. "I'm outta here. You got some issues to fix." He started walking away. "And you Sandals. Don't wait till the last second to put your foot down again. Especially with her. Got that?"

I just nodded.

He went back to the house. Grumbling the whole way.

We all just stood there in silence for a bit.

"Well…" Arno started, awkwardly. "I uh… better go get something to put all this glass in, huh?" He left too.

Sour Cream plopped onto the sand.

I Do not know what to say. I feel like N just said everything. I just look out to all the glassy carnage behind us. "I… hope he brings back a lot of stuff. This got… pretty messy pretty quick, huh?"

"Yeah." Sour Cream said quietly. "Sure did."

I put my hand on his shoulder. "Sour Cream--"

"You're both right. I should have listened to you."

"( _sigh_ ) Yeah. I should have made you listen sooner."

"I… I just want this to be real, man."

"It will be. You just can't rush it. So stop pressuring yourself. Trust me. I know what that does to you."

He nodded his head.

"Creamy…" L says from the rock. "L donked this up good. Me sorry."

"No, no you didn't. I did. You did great. You can rest now."

She Smiled weakly.

Looking back, I can't believe How strong she is. She must've already been holding back a lot just to make those sculptures without blowing them up. I still don't know How I'm gonna help her use her powers around ...other …people …without… burning them?

Wait. She didn't burn me destroying that tiki. She was standing right over me. Her whole body should have heat up. Why wasn't the floor…. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh! OH MY GOSH!

"LYDIA!" I ran to her and squeezed her tightly. "YOU DID IT YOU DID IT YOU DID IT! YOU ACTUALLY DID IT!

"err did what?"

"You controlled your powers! You heat up your arms but not your legs when you saved me! How did you do that?"

"Uhh… me don't know. Was just really tired, wanted to use a little power, and just pushed it all up to me arms. 'Cause if it in my feet, it burn you again."

"That's ok! We can keep practicing it! This is so great, we're getting somewhere!"

"Hehe. Yeah." Sour Cream said, standing up. "Mission accomplished. You guys go ahead and celebrate." He started to walk away.

"Hey where are you going?"

"I need to… call my dad." Then he left.

I sit down on the rock next to L, and she rests her head on my shoulder.

"Look, L? I'm glad we got what we did this for in the first place, but you shouldn't have let it get this far. If you feel like you can't do something, it's ok to stop."

"But L had to put on a show for Sour Cream."

"No you didn't. He would have been fine without you. You gotta do what you want, not him."

"But nobody likes me unless I'm dancing."

I was taken aback by that.

Then she starts mumbling _"Put on a show… show must go on…"_

I tilt her up and make her face me. "I like you, Lydia. Even when you're standing perfectly still."

"...Really?"

"Yep. So don't dance unless you want to. You don't owe your body to anyone but yourself. Ok?"

"Ok."

She rests her head back on my shoulder. After a couple seconds, she takes out that mint stick and waves it in my face. "Y'know you wanna."

I actually don't, but then I look at her cuts, then I kinda do. I take the stick, lick it a little bit, then hand it back to her.

She puts it in her mouth, and after a few seconds her cuts all start healing. Then she passes out right there on my arm.

 **End of Episode 7**


End file.
